Blstone1 PDF

Book 1 - The Bloodstone Story
Bloodstone Book 1 - Page 2
Part 7 of Northern Journey

is dedicated to
Simon Gibbs.
For several years

Simon has been simply
the steadiest,
most reliable
and most valuable helper
our group has had.
- The Vintyri Project
Northern Journey
Part 7, Bloodstone
Book 1 - The Bloodstone Story
Version 1.0
The Vintyri Project™

Bloodstone Project Leader: Trevor Cooke, Scotland.
Co-Author and Online Coordinator: Carl Nielsen, U.S.A.
Co-Author and Webmaster: Mark Oliva, Germany
Editors: Mark Oliva, Germany, and Simon Gibbs, Australia
Illustrator: Joan I. Guardiet, Spain
Co-Authors of the former Project Group 1370:
Stan Allard, USA Bill Farge, USA
Founders of the Northern Journey Campaign:
Marv Olson, USA Greg Waters, USA
This book also makes use of work from the following independent authors:
A. Jason Anatokas Dr. Jeffrey David Bray
Erskine Fincher Paul Hoyak
George Krashos David Olson (a.k.a. Khamsin)
Phillip Wallace (a.k.a. Sleyvas)
The Vintyri Project especially wishes to thank:
Eric L. Boyd Don Caughey
Fernando Puertas Figallo Ed Greenwood
Bob Hall Brian Lindenlaub
Sean Mahoney J.A. Jones Tyler III
Special thanks too for contributions, ideas, suggestions, illuminating online postings, RPG software, CC2 Symbols and other direct and indirect help from the
following members of various Internet mailing lists and contributors to ProFantasy's home page. Your regular postings have made the Realms a better place
and Northern Journey a better adventure:
Charles Jason Albitz, Erol K. Baybert, Jimbo Bean, Fredrik Blom, William Bossier, Allyn Bowker, Jamis Buck, Sam Carter, John Casky, Brad Whitted Chales,
Justin J. Chupp, Eric Comtois, Chris Conboy, Rob Cooper, Jay Cox, Kyle Cretsinger, John Csaky, Dr. Thomas Cullen, Michael Dallaire, Steve Davies, Clay
Derochie, Anna M. Dobritt, Paul George Dooley, Dave Eadie, Lonny Eckart, Jonas Eckerman, Andrew Ellem, Anthony Farrell, Gil Fleming, Jürgen Geppert, Ed
Greaves, Steve Grogan, Gordon Druzzil Gurray, Troy Gustavel, Andrew Hackard, Michael Hahn, Timothy Haney, Lisa Beren Hartjes, Shaun Hately, Jason
Hatter, Chris Heismann, Antje Helfrich, Peter Helfrich, Rick Herron, Teresa Hickam, J.K. Hoffman, Bill Howard, David E. Howerton, Frank Hübner, John Hube
Huebner II, Stuart Hunter, Jonathon Jacobs, Brad Johnston, Alan Jones, Colin Keizer, Linda Kekumu, Kevan, Matthew Klinger, Ben Krauskopf, Paul J. Lareau,
T. Lenti, Mathew Lynn, Ian R. Malcomson, Pat Malone, Tony Marker, Christopher Mathieu, John Draugdur McCaffery, Brian McCallister, Kevin McNeese, Brian
McRoberts, Toby Mekelburg, Robert Merkstallinger, Robert Miller, James Milton, Vic Morales, Steve Mulhern, Scott Murray, Bobby Nichols (a.k.a. the
Cat.Dragon), Roger Nicholls, Lisanne Norman, Alistair Lowe-Norris, Erik Oscarson, Morgen Olden, A. Maarit Pelletier, Jim M. Pierce, Paul Pishnak, Dee Dee
Rand, Rick Ricci, Phil Rhodes, Caroline Ridyard, Notty Ried, Jan-Yves Ruzicka, Rick Saada, David Salvas, Mary Kay Salvas, L. Lee Saunders, Ralf
Schemmann, David Shepheard, Paul Schief, Nancy Schultz, Craig Sefton, Matt Scantronb Selter, Thomas Sevaldrud, Cody Sibley, Clay Van Sickle, Gregory
Simkins, John Simpson, Joe Slayton, Dr. Erin D. Smale, B. (Varl) Smith, Frank F. Smith, Pat Smith, Stephen R. Smith, Ken Snellings, Geoff Spakes, Ken St-
Cyr, Mike Stewart, Pete Storm, Leo Sutherland, ThatOtherGuy, Ed Thomas, Louis Timmer, Colin Tod, Chip Towle, Gary Urvoas,
Maurizio Vaggi, Michael Vaillancourt, Peter Vernon, Wailhorn, Kevin Walker, Waterdeep0 a.k.a. John Smithey, Alex Weinrich, Paul
Westermayer, John Whatmough, Frank Whited, Gary Williams, William Wire, John G. Wood and Melody Yoon.
All maps in the Northern Journey adventure are produced with Campaign Cartographer 2™Pro, Dungeon
Designer 2™ and City Designer 2™ from ProFantasy Ltd. in London. For more information, visit the
following Internet site: http://www.profantasy.com/
The Internet address for Northern Journey (use no capital letters): http://www.vintyri.com
Northern Journey News Reports: When the project group has something new to report, information is posted on our website (see
above) and to the following mailing lists: FRDMing and NJDiscussion at YahooGroups.com, REALMS-L on the WotC server and
ADND-L at the University of Texas. For more information, contact our webmaster at: info@vintyri.com .
Bloodstone
Our Open License
COPYRIGHT NOTICE:
Bloodstone is a derivative work that is based upon the games Dungeons & Dragons® and Advanced Dungeons
& Dragons® and the gaming setting Forgotten Realms®, all of which are subject to the copyright restrictions of
Wizards of the Coast Inc., Renton, Washington, U.S.A. The use of this material in Bloodstone does not
constitute a challenge to those trademarks. Dungeons & Dragons, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Forgotten
Realms and Wizards of the Coast are registered trademarks of Wizards of the Coast. This adventure is offered
under the Wizards of the Coast online policy for distribution of free, non-commercial gaming material in the
Internet. The policy is available on the company's home page in Internet: http://www.wizards.com.
Original material offered in Bloodstone is a non-commercial product of the Vintyri Project™, solely owned by
Steigerwald EDV™ USA, Copyright © 1993-2005, Steigerwald EDV USA. The license for the use of this
material for free and non-commercial distribution follows. Vintyri™, Vintyri Project™, Northern Journey™ and
Steigerwald EDV™ are trademarks of Steigerwald EDV USA.
LICENSE PROVISIONS:
1. Any of use of this material that violates the online policy or any future policies, rules, restrictions, licenses or
similar definitions by Wizards of the Coast explicitly constitutes a violation of this license.
2. You must attach this notice to any content in which you copy, modify or distribute elements derived from
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3. By copying, modifying or distributing the content of Bloodstone including the creation of a derivative work
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9. The right to use graphic material other than maps and dungeon plans from Bloodstone is limited exclusively
to private usage and to the distribution of Bloodstone in its original, unmodified form. Other usage of the
graphic material in Bloodstone is allowed only with the express written consent of the Vintyri Project. Maps and
dungeon plans are excepted from this provision and fall under the provisions of Paragraph 4 above.
10. This license will terminate automatically if you fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to end any and all
breaches of this license within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach(es). All sublicenses shall remain valid
after the termination of this license.
I heard the bells on Christmas day

Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet,
the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
I thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
Till ringing, singing, on it's way,

The world revolved from night to day,
a voice, a chime
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth good will to men.
Then from each black, accursed mouth

The cannon thundered in the south
And with the sound
The carols drowned
It was as if an earthquake rent

The hearthstones of a continent
and made forlorn
The households born
And in despair I bowed my head

"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong
and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail,
the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1864
Bloodstone
Title, Credits, Dedication and Open License
1. Supporting Materials
2. FAQ for Game Masters
2.1 How Can a Non-NJ Game Master Use This Work?

2.2 Where Do I Start? Why So Much History?
2.3 Compatibility
2.4 Notes for AD&D 2E Game Masters
2.5 The Northern Journey Maps
Maps:
The Cold Lands - ca. -5000 DR
Narfelli-Raumathari Era, Year of the Stonerising -200 DR
The Bloodstone Kingdom Today
Borders of the Bloodstone Kingdom
2.6 What's This Segment About?

2.7 Yes, Virginia, Zhengyi Really Was a Red Wizard
3. The Bloodstone Story
3.1 Ancient History

3.2 After the Melt
3.3 Zhengyi's Years … With Inconsistencies
1347 DR - Year of the Bright Blade

1348 DR - Year of the Spur
1349 DR - Year of the Bridle
1350-56 DR - From the Year of the Morningstar to the Year of the Worm
1357 DR - Year of the Prince
1358 DR - Year of Shadows
1359 DR - Year of the Serpent
3.4 Modern History

1360 DR - Year of the Turret
1361 DR - Year of Maidens
1362 DR - Year of the Helm (Year of Changing Winds)
1363 DR - Year of the Wyvern (Year of the Tide Turned)

1364 DR - Year of the Wave (Year of the New Wave)
1365 DR - Year of the Sword
1366 DR - Year of the Staff
1367 DR - Year of the Shield
1368 DR - Year of the Banner
1369 DR - Year of the Gauntlet
1370 DR - Year of the Tankard
1371 DR - Year of the Unstrung Harp
4. People, Organizations and Locations
4.1 A Cast of Characters and Organizations

4.2 Races of the Bloodstone Kingdom
Centaurs
Dwarves
Elves and Half-Elves (including drow)
Giants
Gnomes
Goblins
Halflings
Half-Orcs
Hobgoblins
Ogres
Orcs
4.3 Key Organizations in the Bloodstone Kingdom

Bloodstone Army
Bloodstone Riders
Crooked Key of Heliogabalus
Harpers
Iron Throne
Moonsea Assurance
Zhentarim
4.4 Geographical Locations in and near the Bloodstone Kingdom

Forests
Lakes, Rivers & Swamps
Mountains & Hills
Roads & Trails
Other Locations
5. Campaigning in the Bloodstone Kingdom
5.1 The Running Clock of the Year of Wild Magic
5.2 Resisting the Sigylls in the Bloodstone Lands
5.3 The (Empty?) Pot of Gold at Adventure's End
Appendix
The Cluttered Map

1. Supporting materials
To successfully play this adventure, players and the game master alike need one of the following products:
• Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook (Edition 3 or 3.5)
or the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook (2nd Edition)
Game masters also need one of the two following products:

• Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide (Edition 3 or 3.5)
or the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide (2nd Edition)
… the following product

• Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual (Edition 3 or 3.5)
nd
(also recommended for 2 Edition campaigns)
… the following product

• Dungeons & Dragons Epic Level Handbook (3rd Edition)
nd
(also recommended for 2 Edition campaigns)
… and the following free product, available as a PDF download from the Northern Journey Internet site:
http://www.vintyri.com
• Northern Journey Campaign Guide (Version 8)
In addition we strongly recommend that game masters acquire all of the following accessories. They are
available at low prices as ESD downloads from RPG Now and SV Games:
• FR9 The Bloodstone Lands

By R.A. Salvatore
• H1 Bloodstone Pass
By Douglas Niles and Michael Dobson
• H2 The Mines of Bloodstone

• H3 The Bloodstone Wars

By Douglas Niles and Michael Dobson with Ed Greenwood
• H4 The Throne of Bloodstone

2. FAQ for Game Masters
2.1 How Can a Non-NJ-Game Master Use This Work?

The Northern Journey campaign plot plays a secondary role in this segment. The sigylls that NJ PCs bear will
draw them into Damara, on to a confrontation with the Sammaster and Kargmelchina and finally to the ruins of
Zhengyi's Castle Perilous in Vaasa, but other high-level PC groups are likely to want to hunt down these foes as
well, once they’ve learned of their existence, which shouldn’t take long after they reach the Damara - if they
haven't learned it already.
The Northern Journey elements of this accessory are intended for high level characters on the threshold of
becoming epic level characters. However, when using this Bloodstone accessory as a campaign setting
expansion, it should serve you just as well for a 1st level campaign as for one with 20th level PCs. For more
information on how to make that work, see Section 5.1 The Running Clock of the Year of Wild Magic.
If you’re into high level play, and you're seeking some plot ideas for use in the Bloodstone Kingdom, here are
some that non-NJ-DMs who playtested this accessory used successfully:
• The Harpers - either the Shadowdale of the Berdusk faction - send a group of out to learn what
happened about strange events in the new, so-called Bloodstone Kingdom. There's the mysterious
castle atop Suncatcher Mountain over Damara and Vaasa that holy people believe to be utterly evil.
Thirteen years ago, about 50 dragons flew to the ruins of Zhengyi's Castle Perilous in Vaasa. All or
most of them still are there, although they haven't attacked anything for 13 years. Strange, the Harpers
believe. There also are reports of dragon-lizardmen in Vaasa (draconians). The goat's head priests of
Orcus who hid out in Vaasa are being systematically slain, but no one knows by whom or by what.
Vampires occasionally make raids in Northern Damara and Vaasa, but they do not slay their victims,
nor are the victims turned into vampires. What's going on, the Harpers wonder?
• Some other group sends the PCs to the Bloodstone Kingdom for the same reason. (The Iron Throne,
however, could be a bad choice.)
• The PCs have heard that King Gareth Dragonsbane - with help from Impiltur - is planning to destroy the
castle on Suncatcher Mountain and clean out the ruins of Castle Perilous. They don't want to miss out
on the fun.
• The party has been captured and enslaved by Thayans. They are sold to agents of Shandaril in
Heliogabalus and are chained to work at hard labor in an underground warehouse of the Iron THrone.
• The PCs start out to investigate the Iron Throne somewhere and the trail leads them to Heliogabalus.
• A church sends the PCs out to investigate rumors that demons are entering parts of the Bloodstone
Kingdom, having reopened gates created by the ancient Narfelli during their war with Raumathar.
Some say these gates are somewhere in Narfell or north of Rashemen, while others claim the gates
indeed are beneath what once was Narfell, but the demons travel through the Underdark in tunnels and
emerge upon the edge of Pelvuria, the Great Glacier, in Vaasa.
Reading the history of Damara and Vaasa that follows and the detailed geographical suggestions in Book 2
should give you ideas too for many additional adventure hooks. The accessory is written to give you the
Bloodstone Kingdom in a manner that lets you do what you wish with it, rather than leading you through the NJ
adventure.
2.2 Where Do I Start? Why So Much History?

Some game masters doubtless will make little use of the large historical section offered in this accessory.
Others will hardly be able to use this accessory in their campaigns without it. Very complex affairs are going on
within Damara, Vaasa and environs. For some game masters, it will be necessary to know and understand
what is behind these things in order for their players to gain the information they seek. The historical section
provides these answers.
Game masters running the Northern Journey campaign will need this historical information as well, because it
defines what the adventure is all about, more so in this accessory than in the six that preceded it. However, it is
not necessary to read the entire history in advance. One simply can use the bookmarks and search functions to
refer to it when information is needed.
This accessory is current to the Year of Wild Magic (1372 DR). Some game masters are using this accessory
without running the NJ campaign, and they have set their own campaigns in an earlier year. For them, the
historical section is essential to define what has and has not happened to date.
Those game masters who have no interest in or immediate need for such historical detail should simply skip
over to Book 2, referring to this book only when specific information is required. The key events described in
the historical section also are listed by year in the Northern Journey timeline within the Northern Journey
Campaign Guide Version 8.
2.3 Compatibility
This accessory was not designed to be fully compatible with the 3rd Edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
issued by WotC in 2001 or the 2nd Edition Cloak and Dagger Accessory issued in 2000, nor is it compatible with
the 2003 Wizards of the Coast accessory The Unapproachable East. Here are some differences:
• The Iron Throne in Bloodstone is the version we have used all through the Northern Journey adventure.
This version represents a considerable expansion of the Throne as presented in most FR 1st and 2nd
Edition products without being incompatible. This version of the Iron Throne is, however, a totally
different organization from the one found in Cloak and Dagger, in the Baldur's Gate computer game
series or the novel of the same name. As of this writing, it is unclear how the Iron Throne will be used in
official 3rd Edition products. In most cases, the 3rd Edition FRCS accessory simply ignores it.
• There is no official documentation of the heavy Throne activity in Damara that we document unofficially in
this accessory. Nor is there any official indication that the evil mage Shandaril, an official NPC*, has
become the covert leader of the branch of the Iron Throne east of the Vast. In this accessory Shandaril
lives covertly in Damaran Heliogabalus, where she secretly controls all Throne activity in Impiltur, the
Great Dale and the Bloodstone Kingdom.
• The events that have taken place in Damara and Vaasa since the Year of the Serpent are documented
here in considerably more detail than in official products. For the most part, these details expand
unofficially upon official history, rather than contradicting official history. But none of them take place in
official documentation of Damara and Vaasa.
• At the end of the 1st Edition H-Series modules, Sir Gareth Dragonsbane becomes King of Damara and
proclaims the Bloodstone Kingdom. In the somewhat later FR9 The Bloodstone Lands by R.A. Salvatore,
Sir Gareth has not yet become King of Damara and thinks of one day proclaiming the Kingdom of
Bloodstone. In FRCS, Sir Gareth already is king of Damara, but the proclamation of the Bloodstone
Kingdom is not mentioned. In this accessory, King Gareth has proclaimed the Bloodstone Kingdom, but
he by no means rules it.
• In FR9, we are told that the mysterious castle that has appeared atop Suncatcher Mountain is nothing
more than the lair of a group of friendly cloud giants with their pet cloud dragons. We have ignored this
piece of canon and turned the Suncatcher castle into the lair of our main evildoers.
• There is no official documentation of our depiction of King Gareth. In our version, King Gareth is a
somewhat depressed monarch who has seen that everything has gone right in his land by going all
wrong. Most of those who opposed his kingship in the years after Zhengyi's fall were removed from
power by Zhentarim assassins in the service of the Iron Throne. Shandaril wanted Dragonsbane on the
throne because she believed correctly that his support among the people was strong, but that neither he
nor those who near him would have the least ability to get a hold on an organization like the Throne. As a
result, Dragonsbane rules the country as its king, but his ascendancy to the throne came about mostly
through the dark deeds of an evil organization, the Iron Throne, which runs the country he rules.
• The D&D 3E Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting has the River Pelauvir flowing from the Tortured Land
into Bloodstone Pass and ending there, making it a river that flows into nothing. Shortly south of this
sudden ending, the River Beaumaris begins and flows through Damara. Previous products show almost
the same flow, but with the Pelauvir changing its name to the Beaumaris as it enters Vaasa and then
flowing through Bloodstone Pass. We stayed with the older version, not only because it is consistent with
highly detailed maps of Bloodstone Pass but also because a river that flows into nothing makes no sense.
• The FRCS moves the Glacier of the White Worm and with it the Monastery of the Yellow Rose well south
of the locations where they were heretofore. We ignored these changes.
• The FRCS reports additional melts in the Galenas that have unveiled the lost dwarven mines of Delhalls
and Talagbar in the Galenas. We have incorporated neither the melts nor these mines into NJ, but any
game master who wishes to use these events and locations should have no difficulty adding them on his
or her own.
There are frequent references to FR churches and their deities in Bloodstone and all other segments of
Northern Journey. Game masters should know that the Vintyri Project did not use the WotC D&D 3E accessory
Faiths & Pantheons in preparing material on churches and deities. All of information in these respects was
derived from the three so-called gods’ books for AD&D 2E, which are available as ESD downloads:
• Faiths & Avatars by Julia Martin with Eric L. Boyd, TSR 1996.
• Powers & Pantheons by Eric L. Boyd, TSR 1997.
• Demihuman Deities by Eric L. Boyd, TSR 1998.
st
* Shandaril is documented in the 1988 AD&D 1 Edition FR accessory FR4 The Magister by Ed Greenwood and Steve Perrin. This
accessory is available as an ESD download (see above).
2.4 Notes for AD&D 2E Game Masters
Bloodstone is compatible with both D&D 3E and AD&D 2E, although D&D 3E at times will seem to have priority.
To make our accessories compatible with both rule versions, we have taken the key statistics on NPCs,
monsters, magic, etc., out of the individual releases and placed them in the separate versions of the Northern
Journey Campaign Guide for D&D 3E and AD&D 2E. Nonetheless, you will find some D&D 3E statistics in the
individual accessories as well. Let us look at some examples:
Lenchford
Village, Conventional, AL: L-NG, 200 gp limit. Assets: 4,400 gp. Population: 440; 95% human, 3%
halfling, 1% dwarven, 1% other. Authority figures: Hulkyng Tarnstjúpsonur, human male, AL:NG,
Alderman, Commoner 3, Warrior 1; Heathvynga Elgundsdóttir, human female, AL: NG, commander of
the Bloodstone Riders detachment, Ranger 9; Devit mac Turrn, dwarf male, AL: LG, Expert 10, Fighter 8,
master smith and co-commander of the volunteer watch; Orthric Tenbuster, human male, AL: NG,
Expert 5, Warrior 6, wainwright and co-commander of the volunteer watch; Eino Gurdjeff, human male,
AL:NG, Expert 6, Fighter 4, master tanner and co-commander of the volunteer watch. Other important
figures: Sir Tilinyr, human male, AL: LG, commander of the Sword of Impiltur detachment on the south
bank, Paladin of Ilmater 6; Randall Delton, human male, AL: LG, Expert 3, Warrior 3, manager Royal
Damaran Bloodstone Trust branch office; Tinder Newton, human male, AL: LN(E), manager
Heliogabalus Cooperative branch office and Iron Throne agent, Rogue 4, Expert 1; Sister Gunda, human
female, AL:NG, Druidess of Chauntea, 5. Others: 12 Damaran soldiers, human male and female, AL:
various good, Fighter 1-5. Taxation type: Benevolent.
This statistical block for Lenchford is something new in D&D 3E. It had no equivalent in earlier versions of D&D
and AD&D. If you take a minute's time and give this new element a chance, we think you'll find it's just as useful
to you in AD&D 2E as it is to the D&D 3E game master. It provides a lot of ready data for the settlement in
question, be it a large city or a small thorp.
D&D 3E classifies settlements according to size: Thorp - 20 to 80 residents, Hamlet - 81-400 residents, Village
- 401-900, Small Town - 901-2,000, Large Town - 2,001-5,000, Small City - 5,001-12,000, Large City - 12,001-
25,000 and Metropolis - 25,001 and more. The population always is followed by the base alignment of the
settlement.
The GP limit is the price of the most expensive item one can expect to find in the settlement. The statistic
Assets tells you the amount of ready cash the settlement could muster to buy things or to make monetary
conversions.
At the end of each info block, you'll find the statistic Taxation Type. This is not an official D&D 3E statistic but
rather an unofficial addition used in Northern Journey. The unofficial Forgotten Realms taxation system was
developed by Paul Hoyak and has been incorporated into Northern Journey with his permission. This system is
fully explained in both versions of the Northern Journey Campaign Guide.
For all NPCs whom we believe may play a role where statistics are important, we have included converted
statistics in the Northern Journey Campaign Guide. Nonetheless, in your individual campaign you may wish to
make something more of certain NPCs than we had planned. In that case, you may need to make some
additional conversions that we did not foresee. Should that be the case, we suggest that you use the following
guidelines.
Within a settlement's statistical block as well as at other locations within the Bloodstone accessory, you'll find
NPC data, as in the following example from the Lenchford block:
Devit mac Turrn, dwarf male, AL: LG, Expert 16, Fighter 12, master smith and co-commander of the
volunteer watch;
With only one exception, all of the above data for Devit mac Turrn is just as valid in 2E as in 3E. The exception
is in the class and level Expert 16. D&D 3E introduces special NPC classes. For important NPCs, you'll find
converted 2E statistics in the Northern Journey Campaign Guide. For lesser NPCs, you may find only the short
3E data lines as in the example above. In those cases, we suggest you use the following 2E modification
guidelines:
• Adept: This NPC class is for local magic users in less sophisticated area. Where you see statistics for
an Adept, we suggest you convert the NPC into a Wizard a level or two lower than that listed for the
Adept.
• Aristocrat: This NPC class is for wealthy and influential NPCs, possibly of noble blood. We suggest you
reduce the Aristocrat level by one or two and then divide the remaining levels between the fighter and
thief classes, making that division on the basis of the NPC's character description.
• Commoner: Anyone who doesn't belong in any other class is a 3E Commoner. Basically, this is a level
0 character in AD&D 2E. In 2E, we suggest you convert commoners into 2E level 0 characters with two
exceptions: Roll 1d4 hit points for each suggested commoner level and assign the THAC0 of a wizard for
that effective level. That will give you the benefit of having more versatile commoners in the 2E system
than the simple 2E level 0 character makes possible.
• Expert: This class is used in 3E for professionals, craftsmen and the like. To convert an Expert for 2E,
we suggest you use the same system mentioned for Commoners, but after the HP and THAC0
conversions, equip your 2E Experts with the necessary non-weapon proficiencies.
• Warrior: 3E Warriors are less talented NPC variants on the 3E Fighter class. We suggest you convert
NPC Warriors into 2E Fighters one level lower.
D&D 3E also offers a number of prestige classes, as defined in the 3E Dungeon Master's Guide. Northern
Journey uses only one of the official prestige classes, the Assassin. If you encounter statistics for an Assassin
who is not included in the conversions in the Northern Journey Campaign Guide, we suggest you convert the
Assassin levels into 2E Thief levels.
3E PCs and NPCs with a prestige class always have at least two character classes, because a PC or NPC can
attain a prestige class only after meeting certain qualifications in other classes. If the first 3E class is Rogue, we
suggest you add the levels as Rogue and Assassin and convert the Assassin into a Thief of this combined level.
Otherwise, convert only the Assassin levels into Thief levels.
A 3E Rogue always should be converted into a 2E Thief of the same level. A 3E Monk should be converted into
a 2E dual- or multi-class Fighter/Thief with the levels divided on the basis of the NPC's personality and goals.
In some cases, you may find an NPC defined as a Cleric in the statistical block and then as a specialty priest in
the Northern Journey Campaign Guide. In such cases, always use the specialty priest data in the Campaign
Guide. There is no specialty priest class in 3E.
Monster Manual and Epic Level Handbook

The D&D Monster Manual v3.5 by Skip Williams, Monte Cook and Jonathan
Tweet (WotC - 2003) and the D&D Epic Level Handbook by Andy Collins and
Bruce R. Cordell (WotC - 2002) are accessories for D&D 3E. That
notwithstanding, we strongly recommend that game masters using the AD&D
2E rules acquire both of these books. Both the 3E and 2E versions of
Bloodstone use monsters from the Monster Manual and many elements from
the Epic Level Handbook, with 2E statistical conversions in the Northern
Journey Campaign Guide Version 8.
2.5 The Northern Journey Maps

All of the maps, dungeon plans, etc., that are used in Northern Journey were made with the
cartographic program Campaign Cartographer ™ 2 Pro from the company ProFantasy™ Ltd.
in London. The CC2 maps then were converted into 64-color GIF graphics and inserted into
the NJ tests, which were released in PDF format.
These conversions offer high quality maps that should be suitable for use in most campaigns. Those game
masters who want maps of the highest quality possible should, however, use the original CC2 maps instead,
which can be downloaded separately from our website. This also is the case for game masters who wish to edit
the original maps or to present the maps in a different language.
The original NJ maps from our website have both English and German lingual layers,
which should make them useful in all English-speaking campaigns and in campaigns in
Germany, Austria and the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Independent groups
currently are translating NJ into French and Italian. We do not know when their work will
be finished, but when their releases become available, we will report this on our website
and include links to their download sites.
To use the original maps, you need a computer system capable of running 32-Bit programs for Microsoft®
Windows® as well as the programs themselves. Let's address these two requirements one at a time.
The necessary 32-Bit Windows programs will run under Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows
ME, Windows NT® Version 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 as well as some
versions of LINUX and the MacOS for Apple computers.
We are unable to provide you the technical information on what is necessary to run these programs with LINUX
or Apple computers. If you are interested in these possibilities, we suggest you join the CC2 mailing list from
call ProFantasy's web site at http://www.profantasy.com. Use the menu options Community and then [CC2-L]
CC2 User Forum.
You can use any of the following programs in conjunction with the original Northern Journey maps:
• Campaign Cartographer 2 Pro, Version 6.12 and higher. For more information, call ProFantasy's web
site at http://www.profantasy.com. In the start screen simply click the program name Campaign
Cartographer 2 Pro.
• Campaign Cartographer 2, Version 5.99 and higher. If you have an older version of CC2, you can update
it at no charge to Version 5.99 by calling ProFantasy's web site at http://www.profantasy.com and using
the menu options Downloads and Updates.
• CC2 Viewer. This free program allows you to view and print the original CC2 maps, but it does not give
you editing tools. You can download it at no cost by calling ProFantasy's web site at
http://www.profantasy.com and using the menu options Downloads and Free Printer and Viewer.
• AD&D Core Rules 2 CD. This program from Wizards of the Coast no longer is available from WotC, but it
can be found used. The CD contains a slimmed down version of CC2 called Campaign Mapper. Before
it can read the NJ maps, it needs to be updated free to the current version. You can download the
update free by calling ProFantasy's web site at http://www.profantasy.com and using the menu options
Websites and Core Rules 2 Campaign Mapper.
Users of CC2 Pro and CC2 Version 5.99 or higher also can integrate the NJ CC2 maps into the Forgotten
Realms Interactive Atlas, however, the NJ maps use different styles than the FRIA maps and a 24-Bit color
system rather than the 256-color, 8-bit system implemented in FRIA. The latest patches and additions to FRIA
can be downloaded free by calling ProFantasy's web site at http://www.profantasy.com and using the menu
options Websites and Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas.
Our game testers have had contrasting opinions about the overall map of the Bloodstone Kingdom today.
Some users want a map of the entire kingdom that shows just about every important location. When we've
offered such a map, other users have complained that it's so cluttered that it's difficult to read and use. In the
pages that follow, we show you the uncluttered version of the map. If you prefer the cluttered version, you'll find
it in the appendix at the end of this book.
Game masters who use Campaign Cartographer 2 Pro from ProFantasy Ltd. and who use the original map file
BloodstoneKingdom.fcw in CC2-Format also can switch between the two versions of this map:
• For the uncluttered version, hide the four layers with names starting with the word cluttered.
• For the cluttered version, show the four layers with names starting with the word cluttered.
2.6 What's This Segment About?

If you're running the Northern Journey adventure, the segment is its climax. Regardless of whether you're using
NJ, this accessory culminates the adventure lines that were created between 1985 and 1988 by Douglas Niles,
Michael Dobson and in part Ed Greenwood in the four "H-Series" modules and then later culminated by R.A.
Salvatore in the 2nd Edition accessory FR9 The Bloodstone Lands in 1989.
This module carries on unofficially where FR9 left off, with Damara and Vaasa slowly beginning to rise again
from the ashes after the defeat of Zhengyi the Witch Queen, who ruled Vaasa and terrorized Damara from the
Year of the Bright Blade (1347 DR) until his destruction by Sir Gareth Dragonsbane and his companions in the
Year of the Serpent (1359 DR).
In the time after Zhengyi's fall, a mysterious castle appeared atop Suncatcher Mountain, which overlooks
Damara and Vaasa, and a group of 50 dragons slowly gathered around and began lairing in the ruins of
Zhengyi's Castle Perilous in northeastern Vaasa. Damara itself remained in something of a state of political
turmoil, with some regional barons and dukes supporting and other opposing Sir Gareth as new king of Damara.
Our accessory is a version of the events that take place between Zhengyi's fall in the Year of the Serpent and
the current year of this accessory, the Year of Wild Magic (1372 DR). This accessory is not, however, the tale
of Damara and Vaasa after Zhengyi's fall but only one possible and unofficial version of events.
For those who are running NJ, this accessory is the climax of the main adventure. It takes the PCs to Castle
Dragonblood atop Suncatcher Mountain, where they encounter Sammaster and Kargmelchina, the evildoers
responsible for the red sigylls on their arms, and then into the ruins of Castle Perilous, where Sammaster and
Kargmelchina have been breeding draconians.
In Castle Dragonblood, the PCs can learn of the plans of Sammaster and Kargmelchina to conquer the
Bloodstone Kingdom, Impiltur, the Great Dale, the Vast and parts of the Moonsea region. The tools they plan to
use are the vampire dragons lairing in the ruins of Castle Perilous and Realms draconians who are being bred
in the mercury pool beneath the castle's ruins. Their goal is to establish a new religiously dominated empire
between Faerûn's East and West that is governed by the Tiamatist faction of the Dragon Cult.
This accessory gives the game master several closing options:
• Tiamat withdraws from her Kargmelchina avatar. When the PCs encounter her, she is a vampire dragon
lich again.
• Kargmelchina remains an avatar of Tiamat, which will give the PCs a chance to battle an avatar before
reaching epic levels.
• Sammaster is a vampire dragon lich who can be destroyed in Castle Dragonblood, bringing the curtain
down upon the Northern Journey campaign.
• Sammaster is present in Castle Dragonblood only as a facet of himself. To truly destroy Sammaster, the
PCs must travel through the Abyss to the Land of the Lich Lords in the North, whey they can track down
Sammaster. This option uses the optional 8th part of Northern Journey, In the Land of the Lich Lords,
which in itself is a huge adventure for D&D 3E/3.5E epic level characters. (There is no AD&D 2E version
of In the Land of the Lich Lords.) This option also gives game masters the chance of magically exiting
their characters out of the Realms and into another gaming world, with keys for the d20® setting,
Oathbound™, Domains of the Forge, from Bastion Press, and the Vintyri™ world of the Vintyri Project.
Game masters using this accessory as an FR campaign setting expansion can ignore the placement of
Sammaster and/or Kargmelchina atop Suncatcher and substitute their own preferred villains there, if they wish.
2.7 Yes, Virginia, Zhengyi Really Was a Red Wizard

As comments on some mailing lists have shown, this question of Zhengyi's origin can turn quickly into an
incredibly heated issue. Many game masters have all kinds of ideas on the place whence Zhengyi the Witch
King came. The most popular of them is the concept that Zhengyi either was a surviving Narfelli lich (We have
a surviving Narfelli demilich in The Great Dale, Part 6 of Northern Journey.) or a Narfelli mage restored as a lich.
Be assured that we have no objection when a game master chooses to make something other than a former
Red Wizard of Zhengyi. But please don't do as some folks have done and tell us that we're mangling the
Realms or just plain looney when we describe Zhengyi as a former Red Wizard of Thay. Officially, that's
precisely what he was. If you have doubts, please see the right hand column on Page 14 of FR9 The
Bloodstone Lands by R.A. Salvatore (available as an ESD download). There it is said:
The Witch-King was himself once a member of the Red Wizards before he broke away, eventually
to become Damara's nightmare.
While some alternative origins offered to us by contributors are fascinating, we really see no gaming purpose
we could serve by giving Zhengyi a different origin, unless, of course, one wished to bring him back into action.
Many game masters have suggested that we revive Zhengyi in this segment of NJ. We have decided against it.
We agree with the point Dr. Jeffrey David Bray made on the old Internet Realms Mailing List at MPGN several
years ago:
I still like this as the best solution: Zhengyi died a final death with the destruction of his master,
Orcus. Zhengyi had too much power invested in him from the Prince of the Undead, and Orcus' fall
led to the permanent dissolution of Zhengyi. Pick a new evil threat.
However, don't let Dr. Bray's advice or our group's decisions keep you from bringing Zhengyi back, if you think
that's what your campaign needs.
3. The Bloodstone Story

You don't like history? FR fans are quite divided on the question of history.
Some thrive on it; others would detour through the Outer Planes just to avoid
it. If you want to get right to the "crunchy stuff," skip this book and
concentrate on Book 2 - Campaigning in the Bloodstone Lands. After that,
you can use this book for reference with the help of the PDF bookmarks.
NOTE: This accessory includes a substantial amount of material that was adapted from the drafts of Damara
and Vaasa created by Simon Gibbs in Australia.
In some previous segments of Northern Journey, we have created a detailed history of the
areas being described, fleshing out and filling holes in the official histories. That is not always
necessary in this accessory. The tale of all that happened in Damara and Vaasa from the
Year of the Bright Blade (1347 DR) until the fall of Zhengyi the Witch King in the Year of the
Serpent (1359 DR) is outlined in considerable detail in FR9 The Bloodstone Lands by R.A.
Salvatore.
For this reason, we urge all game masters who use this accessory to acquire FR9. Much of
the information described here is based upon detailed information in FR9. Without this TSR
accessory, some of the details of our material may be elusive. FR9 is available as an ESD
download.
NOTE: R.A. Salvatore used inapplicable year designations in FR9, an error that was corrected in later TSR
publications. The years he names fall short of the correct dates in Dale Reckoning by 210 years. Thus, when
FR9 states that Zhengyi arose in Vaasa in the Year FR1137, this should be translated to the Year of the Bright
Blade (1347 DR).
Because the history of the 12 years from Zhengyi's rise to his fall is so extensively documented in FR9, we'll
offer only a summary of the events during that time here and concentrate instead upon the tales - most of them
unofficial - that occurred before Zhengyi's time and then begin with the story - again unofficially - where FR9 left
off.
3.1 Ancient History

NOTE: Most of the material is this section is unofficial!
When does the tale of Damara and Vaasa begin?
There's one simple answer. One need only look at the official FR timeline to find that the two lands were totally
free from the ice of Pelvuria, the Great Glacier, for the first time in the Year of the Spreading Spring (1038 DR).
Unfortunately, this answer is a bit too simple, because we also know from official FR material that the god Ulutiu
died in the Year -2550 DR (62 years before the fall of the Imaskari empire of Raurin), and only then did the
Great Glacier take shape, formed out of a great interior sea known as the Cold Ocean from the magic of Ulutiu's
ice necklace.
In our work with users of NJ materials and play testers, we've found that many tend to view the time when
Pelvuria was formed as being an episode in very ancient Realms history. However, this assumption is false.
Granted, the Great Glacier was formed a long time ago, 3,972 years ago, to be exact. Nonetheless, it took form
in a time far too new to be described as prehistoric.
To gain a better perspective on the state of Faerûn at the time of Ulutiu's death when the Great Glacier
emerged, let's look at many of the major historical events that already had taken place in the Realms:
• Elves had established many settlements in Faerûn.
• The Elven Crown Wars had begun.
• The drow had become drow and had descended beneath Faerûn's surface.
• Several dwarven settlements had been established, among them Deep Shanatar, High Shanatar, Sarphil,
Haunghdannar, Gharragaur, Besilmer, Ammarindar, Delzoun, Oghrann and Ironstar.
• Many of them had fallen again - Besilmer, Sarphil, Gharragaur, Haunghdannar, Sharrven and High
Shanatar.
• The first known human empire - Raurin, the land of the Imaskari - had arisen and later become embroiled
in a civil war of magical devastation. Some of the defeated rebel Imaskari wizards, sorcerers and
warriors had fled to the area now known as the Ride, to found their Mislivdomû nation east of what would
become Netheril. Others had fled to the lands above water in what now is Damara, Vaasa and a part of
Pelvuria, to establish a new but brief-lived empire there known as Nove Ríse. *
• The Nether Scrolls were found in the ruins of Aryvandaar and then lost again.
• The human nation of Netheril was founded, and elves had begun teaching the Netherese magic.
• The elves of the North had begun teaching gnomes illusory magic.
* Unofficial events.
Little is known about what the Great Glacier covered other than the bed of the Cold Ocean. Such lore is the
province of those few rare sages who have won the knowledge of eastern contemporaries specialized in the
secrets of the fallen Imaskari Raurin Empire and who then went on to gain their own knowledge of some of the
secrets hidden even today by Pelvuria.
One such is sage the epic level wizard Mundelraun of Kinnery in Damara. Mundelraun has devoted his long,
magically extended life to the gaining of knowledge which he sells at extremely high prices to anyone who
wishes to buy it, using the profits to finance expeditions intended to gain still more knowledge. He spent more
than a century as the leader of adventuring bands he had organized in the search for secrets of the Imaskari,
and he continues to finance exploratory expeditions today, although he now seldom leaves his tower. He is
described in Version 8 of the Northern Journey Campaign Guide.
Our basis for understanding the past of Damara and Vaasa before the formation of the Great Glacier is based
then upon information Mundelraun has given to the few customers who have paid a king's fortune to gain his
knowledge.
During his adventuring years, Mundelraun at times was the sole survivor of parties he had taken into the Raurin
Desert, Mulhorand and Unther and then later to the Novularond Mountains of Pelvuria. Mundelraun had found
information about the lost settlements of Imaskari rebels known as the Mislivbuh nation east of Netheril, now
called The Ride, and about Nove Ríse in the general area where the Damara, Vaasa and parts of the Great
Glacier now stand. His interest focused primarily on the lore of Nove Ríse.
His exploration of the glacier brought him first to Patatak, a reclusive settlement of lazy Innugaakalikurit dwarves
in the southwestern corner of the warm Novularond Mountain range within the glacier. After making substantial
payments to the dwarves, they agreed to take him to the ruins of one of the rumored but until then unseen lost
cities in the higher levels of the Novularonds.
The dwarves brought Mundelraun to ancient Cáry Mesto (City of Sorcerers), where he not only found items of
great magical power but also journals telling the tale of Nove Ríse, the Imaskari rebel empire of which the City
of Sorcerers had been a part.
Mundelraun sought and still seeks knowledge over the beginnings of the Raurin Empire. He wishes to know
above all what folk populated the early empire and what the source of their magical knowledge was, but some
of this information eludes him to this day.
From the journals Mundelraun found in the ruins of City of Sorcerers, he learned that Raurin originally had been
a collection of non-allied kingdoms, most of them ruled by monarchs who were sorcerers, although there also
were wizards, wizard-warriors and sorcerer warriors.
Magic began as a natural talent among the Imaskari, according to these journals, but through the study of a
sorcerer's natural talent for magic, one learned how to control magic, and thus Imaskari wizardry developed.
After reading the rebels' journals, Mundelraun concluded that the magic the Imaskari commanded not only
doubtless was of a much more powerful nature than that known today but also appears to have been of a
different nature.
One of Mundelraun's best paying customers is a key figure in the fate of the modern day Bloodstone Kingdom
and indeed all of the Cold Lands beyond Easting Reach. She is the epic level wizardess Shandaril of
Heliogabalus, who covertly steers most Iron Throne operations east of Easting Reach. Mundelraun has told her
that he has come to believe that because the Raurin Empire lay beyond the bounds of the Faerûnian pantheon
of deities at that time, the Imaskari sorcerers and wizards were not subject in their homeland to the will of
Mystryl or later Mystra.
Instead, he said he believes that wizards and sorcerers of Raurin either:
• Gained their spells with the aid of another eastern deity, who granted them
access to the Weave.
• Or learned to access the Weave themselves with their own natural affinity
for magic.
Among the greater treasures Mundelraun found in Cáry Mesto was the Kniha
hvezdi - the Book of Stars. This work is described in Version 8 of the Northern
Journey Campaign Guide. The sage has yet to reveal the existence of this book
to anyone else. Within its pages, one finds extensive information and data on the
Kniha hvezdi - entire Imaskari rebel nation of Nove Ríse including the purported locations of all
Book of Stars of its settlements and isolated wizards' and sorcerers' towers.
To date Mundelraun has been to all of the surviving sites described in the Book of Stars, but he has explored
only two of them, Cáry Mesto and the now invisible artifact Bohuclav's Tower, which he has claimed for himself.
In his dealings with Shandaril, Mundelraun sold her the maps describing the location of a powerful wizards'
château that now stands on the northeastern edge of the Novularond range within the Great Glacier.
Mundelraun also relinquished all exploratory rights to the site. He has not gone there and does not intend to do
so, but Shandaril has been there. The Imaskari rebels called the château Severny Tajemstvi - Northern
Arcanum. A cabal of mighty wizards and sorcerers there attempted to develop magic that would destroy the
Raurin Empire.
More details on Mundelraun, Shandaril and these locations can be found in this volume under Heliogabalus and
the history of Zhengyi's era. The locations of the Mislivdomû kingdom, Nove Ríse, Cáry Mesto, Bohuclav's
Tower and Severny Tajemstvi can be seen on the map The Cold Lands - ca. -5000 DR on a previous page.
One also can find detailed information in the Northern Journey Campaign Guide Version 8. A
map of the Novularond range and more information on this region of the Great Glacier can be
found in FR 14 The Great Glacier by Rick Swan (TSR - 1992). This accessory is available as
an ESD download.
With the help of the Book of Stars, Mundelraun learned how the great internal sea was shaped
that later was frozen into Pelvuria by Ulutiu's necklace. The Imaskari rebel empire of Nove
Ríse consisted of two islands, a hilly peninsula and a northern mainland that comprised hilly
lands in the south and today's Novularond mountain range in the north.
Most rebel development took place within these areas. All of them outside of the Novularond range or today's
Galena Mountains now are lost beneath the ice mountains of Pelvuria.
In older times, according to Realms inventor Ed Greenwood's designs, the mountains were part of an irregular
star-shaped range known as the Giantspikes, which reach farther south than shown on our map, including
today's Earthspur Mountains north of Impiltur and the Earthfast Mountains between Impiltur and the Vast.
In the North, according to Ed's plans, the range also was larger, covering all of what now is the Grey Land of
Thar and including the modern Dragonspine Mountains north of the Moonsea as well as the White Peaks
northwest of the Ride. In those times, the range was unbroken in all directions. It was called by the dwarven
name, the Dragonspikes, because the mountains were recognized as a domain of the stout folk, the home of
the great Sarphil Empire.
This great dwarven reach was established in about -7500 DR. It included halls under most of the Dragonspikes'
star. Sarphil's first serious troubles began in the southern tip of the star beneath the Earthfasts when war broke
out with orcs of the Vast in about -6400 DR. The empire held for about 2,000 years, but it was sundered and
largely destroyed when drow and duergar overrun both the Elven Court of Cormanthyr and much of the Sarphil
domain in -4400 DR.
After the victories of the drow and duergar, the survivors of Sarphil were sundered into many small clan halls,
and most of these were destroyed during years of earthquakes that shook the Dragonspikes and then brought
down many parts of them after the Great Glacier began forming in -2550 DR.
After the flight from the Raurin Empire, the Imaskari rebels divided into two factions. Some of the sorcerers and
almost all of the wizards who had fled were hell bent upon revenge and the conquest of Raurin. But the
majority of the sorcerers and some wizards wished to leave their Imaskari origins in their past and instead
develop a new life for themselves in the north. The first group, by far the larger of the two, settled Nove Ríse.
The smaller band went on to what we now call the Ride.
Most evidence indicates that this group degenerated quickly into a tribe of barbaric warrior warlocks that called
itself the Mislivbuh (hunter gods) and their land Mislivdomû (Hunters' Home). Mundelraun's documentation
suggests that the Mislivbuh and the folk of Nove Ríse viewed each other hostilely but there were no wars
between them.
The Mislivbuh lived for many years as an isolated tribe that became ever more barbaric and primitive, although
they continued to master and use Imaskari sorcery. In -3112 DR, Garloth, an exiled prince of the Pescheour
Kingdom, came to Mislivdomû and quickly ascended to the rule of the Mislivbuh, who believed him to be an
incarnation of their supreme god, Hran the Hunter.
Garloth later became known as the Arcanist Necromancer Agranthalodar of the Netherese West Mark, who
eventually led his adopted Mislivbuh folk to their damnation in the Greypeak Mountains farther westward after
abandoning the Ride for the greener grasses of Netheril in -2995 DR. Agranthalodar now is known as the
emperor of the lich lords, and his Mislivbuh folk are the undead of his lich empire, but that is the tale of In the
Land of the Lich Lords, the last installment of Northern Journey, and it will not be further pursued here.
The Imaskari rebels of Nove Ríse did not attempt to build a typical nation with cities and villages that were
connected by roads. Instead, they built a few isolated settlements where soils allowed farming. But most other
construction was limited to remote fortresses and wizards' towers.
Mundelraun assumes from the descriptions he has read that there was almost no travel within Nove Ríse, at
least as we known it today. Instead, he believes the rebels moved from location to location and transported
goods with magic similar to the teleportation spells and gates known to modern magi.
Mundelraun can be a good source of information to well-heeled PCs who are seeking information on Raurin,
Imaskari magic or the Imaskari rebels, particularly in a campaign that is using this accessory but not running the
Northern Journey adventure line.
Although Mundelraun may know more about the Raurin Empire and the Imaskari rebels who fled to the
northwest nearly 7,000 years ago than any other living sage, there are many things that are beyond his ken.
Interestingly, his customer, Shandaril, has learned a bit of some of these things, although she has not shared
her knowledge with Mundelraun.
Nonetheless, Mundelraun's research and Shandaril's discoveries have been critical in shaping the modern
Bloodstone Kingdom, and they may play equally critical roles in deciding the future of Damara and Vaasa as
well, as we shall soon see.
Both Mundelraun and Shandaril ponder over the events that brought about the fall of Nove Ríse. Mundelraun's
explorations of Cáry Mesto and the site of Bohuclav's Tower unveiled ancient rebel Imaskari structures that
were largely intact, with only minor damage from earthquakes, infrequent predators and time. Shandaril made
similar findings at the site of the château Severny Tajemstvi.
In all three locations, the abandoned buildings still were populated by the ancient and crumbling skeletons of the
Imaskari rebels who had lived and worked in them. None of the skeletons show any trace of violence or give
any other clue to what appears to be evidence of a sudden, mass death.
Although Mundelraun does not know the answer, some game masters may wish to hide tomes elsewhere in
Faerûn that tell the true tale of Nove Ríse's fall. The victors of the civil war in the Raurin Empire in the
Southeast did not intend for the rebels to flee the death they deemed them to deserve, and the rebels of Nove
Ríse, in turn, were bent upon revenge against the victors in Raurin.
With their magic, the victorious Imaskari wizards sought and found the land of Nove Ríse almost as soon as the
rebels had settled it. Both nations were bent upon creating magic to destroy the other over the many miles that
separated them. The Imaskari worked to develop the Brown Plague, a deadly arcane disease that could be
sent to the rebels with magic, to kill them almost immediately, en masse.
The rebels of Nove Ríse had a more complicated goal. They wished to return home, rekindle the civil war they
had lost and win it in the new round. They worked to develop their Tower of Feeblemindedness, which is
described under artifacts in Version 8 of the Northern Journey Campaign Guide.
The rebels' goal was to build a telescoping metallic tower 100 feet/30 m high that could be sent magically into
the heart of Raurin, where it would erect itself and send 10th and 11th level rays of enfeeblement out across the
entire empire. The rebels believed they could conquer Raurin easily if its magi and sorcerers were
feebleminded.
Both projects made substantial progress. In the end phases, Nove Ríse had purchased thralls from the
emerged nation of Netheril to the west and used its tower in experiments upon the enslaved victims. The
experiments were done in -2710 DR upon a plateau in what now is the Eastern Galena Range above Damara
and Vaasa, but they were only partially successful.
The rebels of Nove Ríse worked another decade upon their magical tower, but the magi of Raurin were faster.
They had succeeded in developing their Brown Plague, and in the Year -2700 DR, they sent it magically
northward to Nove Ríse, where almost every man, woman and child watched aghast as his or her skin shriveled
and turned brown while limbs began to shake uncontrollably in a death dance that claimed all of its victims in
less than a day's time.
The only surviving rebels of Nove Ríse were those who had worked underground in the cavernous halls of the
leg of the Dragonspikes now known as the East Galenas, beyond the reach of the deadly plague magic.
Ironically, it was these magi who then were in possession of the faulty Tower of Feeblemindedness, and they
continued to develop it.
One might ask how the Mislivbuh managed to escape the fate of Nove Ríse. One can only speculate of course,
but one must note that the Mislivbuh had followed Agranthalodar 225 years earlier to Basin Lake in Netheril,
where they remained until -2682 DR. It is not implausible that Raurin might have been unwilling to engage in a
distant war with the arcanists of Netheril, which certainly would have been the result of a magical attack upon
the Netherese Basin Lake.
The Imaskari wizards of Raurin may have claimed victory over the rebels of Nove Ríse in -2700 DR, but both
factions were doomed to lose in the long run. In -2550 DR, the Great Glacier Pelvuria began to form, causing
among many other things massive chains of earthquakes throughout the Dragonspikes, destroying not only
most of the few remaining halls of the Sarphil dwarves but also killing almost all of the surviving Nove Ríse
rebels.
Only 62 years later, the Imaskari Empire of Raurin was destroyed in a magical war, and the sands of the
burgeoning Raurin Desert began covering what remained of it, a fate that also would befall Netheril 2,200 years
later, leaving only desert where humans once had reached the zenith of their magical abilities.
What remained of the Imaskari Empire were refugees who fled into the Mulhorandi region or northward into the
wastes, where their descendants in another 1,500 years would join with other folk to form the Empire of
Raumathar, also mighty in magic, but only a shadow of the land of wizardry Raurin had been.
The Mislivbuh descendants of the Imaskari rebels were granted another 900 years, before their adopted leader
Agranthalodar would bring them to their accursed existence as undead slaves of the lich lords after the Battle of
Horindon Lhar in -1591 DR.
And in the range we now know as the East Galenas, isolated from the rest of humanity, a small settlement of
survivors of Nove Ríse forged on, slowly rebuilding the magical power they had lost over the years, bent yet
upon revenge against the Raurin Empire, even long after it had ceased to exist, although they were unaware of
this. Many years would pass and many events would go by in the world beyond before they would emerge
again. Among other things, the young, neighboring empires of Raumathar and Narfell would wage war against
one another and eventually destroy each other.
But for them and monster tribes in the then glacial mountains we now call the Galenas, the tale of Damara and
Vaasa had grown quiet, with most of both lands now under ice instead of water. The descendants of the
Imaskari rebels still had the Tower of Feeblemindedness, but centuries would pass before there again were
wizards and sorcerers among them capable of calling upon its powers.
3.2 After the Melt

NOTE: Much of the material is this section is unofficial!
Although there were few within the bounds of modern day Damara and Vaasa to react to it at the time, the next
momentous event in the two lands' history occurred in the appropriately named Year of Doom (714 DR), when
the Army of Darkness fell upon and eventually overran Myth Drannor in the West.
Horrible amounts of magic were unleashed during that conflict, hammering the Weave mercilessly and at last
causing a slight shift in the rotation of Abeir-Toril that - among many other environmental impacts - caused
Pelvuria, the Great Glacier, to begin melting in the South and to expand somewhat over unpopulated wasteland
in Sossal in the East and north of the Sunrise Mountains in the West.
Slowly, today's Galenas begin to emerge from the ice, followed bit by bit by the lower lands, which were
swampy for many years until drainage had been completed, a process that still has not taken place in Vaasa
north of Dead Man's Walk.
In the Year of the Spreading Spring (1038 DR), it is said that modern day Vaasa and Damara as well as the
parts of the Narfelli Plain that Pelvuria had covered at last were free of ice. People, some hungry for
opportunity, some seeking to escape their pasts, began moving into the Damaran plains and hills, while monster
populations took to the mountains.
In the Year of the Reaching Beacon (1042 DR), a wanderer named Tarmash Maracrath established a sawmill
on the Merchant's Run in the Great Dale, and facilities for travelers soon followed. Eventually, the site grew into
the hamlet of Maracrath.
In the same year, a Sembian entrepreneur named Feldrin Bloodfeathers established a small settlement he
named Ravensburg on the White Worm River beneath the Earthspur Mountains in Damara, north of Impiltur.
Between then and the Year of the Twilight Campaign (1046 DR), growing traffic into Damara led to the founding
of Guidodale and Lenchford on Merchants Run in the Great Dale and Timbertown to the west of them on the
edge of Rawlinswood.
Ice-free Damara drew an increasing number of people from many parts of the region, above all Impilturians
seeking a better fortune and sons of Turami migrants who had gone to Sembia or the Dalelands of the West
seeking their fortune and not finding it. Few of those descendants who turned eastward again had any real idea
what Damara might offer them beyond the tales they had heard of vast and empty spaces and a desire to claim
a part of that great open land as their own. It was an era much akin to American pioneer days in the Old West,
and with it soon came lawlessness, for not all immigrants were men of good will.
Feldrin Bloodfeathers also had traveled with his family from Sembia to seek his fortune. After founding
Ravensburg in modern Carmathan, he moved on to become the first settler of Heliogabalus. He found his
fortune quickly then. Within only a few years, however, he also felt threatened. A rise in banditry and reports of
growing monster populations in the northern mountains above swampy Vaasa could drive many immigrants
back out of Damara again, causing the general weal of the new frontier to vanish and with it his own good
fortunes.
Taking advantage of an early spring, warm summer and autumn periods and a late, mild winter, Bloodfeathers
sent his sons out in the Year of Auril's Absence (1049 DR) to organize the farmers and ranchers who settled the
country sides, forming mutual defense patrols and teaching the settlers how to fight. In the first years, their
efforts brought only modest success. Although the settlers had learned how to fight better, they still were but an
ill match for the hardened members of the bandit bands in the countryside.
But the Bloodfeathers sons, led by their eldest, Tenthlar, did not give up hope. They continued to organize the
countryside. In autumn, after harvests had been brought in, they convinced the settlers to build centrally
fortified homestead areas with watchtowers and semaphores in the fields and on the range, so that adequate
warning could be given when bandits approached an area.
These unified efforts made life more difficult for the bandits and brigands, who were poor men themselves with
only modest weapons. They were ill-equipped to breach defensive walls, and with each passing year, the
fighting prowess of their intended victims grew. After the harvest, large bands of armed settlers would begin
massive autumn hunts for the robber bands. An increasing number of the villains ended their lives dangling
from a rope around their necks.
In the century's middle years, the Bloodfeathers brothers successful urged most settlements to form governing
councils, not only to main defenses against bandits but also to maintain the peace within their own growing
ranks.
By the Year of the Seer Born (1068 DR), Damara had grown into a nation of decentralized regional
governments. The bandit problem had been all but resolved, however, the monster tribes in the Galenas were
becoming a growing problem, and bands of orcs had made prospecting in northern Damara dangerous indeed.
Feldrin Bloodfeathers knew it was only a matter of time before orcs and goblins would pour over the Damaran
plain, and few of the people would survive.
In that year, he sent his sons out to call all of the local council leaders and the two men whose folk had made
barons of them in the south to a central Damaran Council, where the problems and threats saving the nation
without central government were discussed for a full tenday. The meeting was lengthy because a new
discovery had been made while it ran its course.
Prospectors working the walls of the dangerous Beaumaris River Pass into Vaasa (known today as Bloodstone
Pass) had rushed to Heliogabalus with the exciting news for Feldrin Bloodfeathers that they had discovered
caverns in the pass with incredibly rich deposits of the red-specked green chalcedony known as bloodstone.
Bloodstone was not an unknown quantity in Damara. Both Impiltur and the Hillsafar dwarves in the Galenas
already had discovered bloodstone, mined it and earned fantastic fortunes with it. Bloodstone had become the
preferred unit of wealth for storage in many of the great treasuries of Faerûn, including those of several
Moonsea city-states (the Zhentarim did not yet exist at that time), Sembia, Cormyr, Tethyr and the City of
Waterdeep.
It also was the main monetary unit in place of currency used in trading circles of the west. Bloodstone was
highly coveted on the money markets. Much more could be sold.
Some members of the first Damaran National Council were skeptical whether the bloodstone could be mined
successfully in the distant pass to Vaasa, but all members agreed that if the regional councils and baronies
could unite and form a country, the new mines could be operated by the nation itself, centralizing the control
rather than giving foreign intruders an opportunity to simply take them over. Moreover, they decided, the
bloodstone mines could draw many more people into Damara.
Before the council had ended, its members had voted to establish a federative kingdom with three duchies, four
baronies and the capital, the Free City of Heliogabalus, to be ruled by a Burgomaster elected by a city council
and serving at their pleasure. The larger areas east of the Goliad River were divided into the duchies of
Brandiar, Arcata and Carmathan. The Barony of Bloodstone was created later. In the first years, the council
placed Bloodstone Pass within the Duchy of Brandiar.
The baronies of Morovar and Ostel were created with the same boundaries they have today. The barony of
Polten included all land in its current borders plus the east bank of the Icelace to the point where a trail to
Giantspire Pass led eastward. Steppenhall and the lands east of Tellerth were taken from Polten later by
Zhengyi the Witch King and given to Soravia.
The original barony of Soravia included Kinbrace, Kinnery, Merkurn and the lands between the Galena Snake,
the border of Brandiar in the west and the ridge of the East Galenas to the northwest. In Zhengyi's time,
Soravia was made into Damara's fourth duchy and it was expanded to its current borders. In Feldrin's time,
Damara made no claim to its current eastern reaches, and the settlements of the so-called Star of Infelice -
Rolene, Hinterford, Newbelle, Thimble and Tokard - were outside of any land's claimed boundaries.
The Stormhaven Hills too were unpopulated. Only the clergy of Auril in the Enchanted Hills were known to live
in what now is eastern Soravia, and neither they nor the councils and baronies had sought then to bring them
beneath the Damaran umbrella.
In its final days, the council drafted the first Damaran Charter, setting forth the terms of the federative monarchy.
In each barony and duchy, the local councils would elect their own baron or duke. From that point, the title
would be inherited by the oldest son or daughter. Before taking office, however, the new nobleman or -woman
required council confirmation.
If confirmation was denied, the title would be passed to the next in the hereditary line, continuing until the
council at last confirmed its new nobility. When no blood heir was available or could win confirmation, a new
nobleman or -woman would be elected by the council as duke, duchess, baron or baroness.
On national level, a similar system was implemented. The first king was to be elected by the first council, the
hereditary rights were the same as for noblemen and a national council was required to affirm the coronation of
a king or to pick a new one when their was no heir who could be confirmed. Feldrin Bloodfeathers was elected
by acclaim as Damara's first king.
The monarch's domain was the nation. The barons and duke's were responsible for maintaining armed forces
at strengths determined by the king, and in normal times, they served the noblemen who had called them to
duty. But when a king was faced with the need to go to war, he had the high command over all ducal and
baronial troops and could send them where he chose.
Lawmaking within the duchies and the baronies was the province of the dukes and barons, with edicts requiring
the confirmation of their baronial and ducal councils. The king's legislative powers were limited to issues that
crossed baronial and ducal borders. Except in times of emergency, his edicts required the confirmation of the
semi-annual Damaran Councils, where the dukes and barons were represented.
The system went into effect on the first day of Marpenoth in the Year of the Seer Born (1068 DR), and it served
Damara well for 279 years, until the Year of the Bright Blade (1347 DR), when the lich Zhengyi, a former Red
Wizard of Thay, rose to power in the wastes of Vaasa to the North and disasters began to fall over Damara.
But until that time, Damara prospered under the leadership of the Bloodfeathers Dynasty. The kingdom had
become the source of cattle, food products, gold, silver and, above all, bloodstone bars, for nations near and
far. And although their population was smaller, the Damaran monarchs were on equal footing with the kings
and queens of neighboring Impiltur in the eyes of the world beyond the two kingdoms.
However, although few in old Damara were aware of it, another danger had threatened the young kingdom in its
first century of existence. A band of evil and by all accounts insane wizards, descendents of the Imaskari rebels
of fallen Nove Ríse, had lived secluded from generation to generation in caves high in the East Galenas above
Damara and Vaasa, just north of modern day Justin's Mine, ignorant of the Damarans and looking upon the
monsters of Vaasa as offal.
For centuries, the grandsons of Nove Ríse had worked to perfect what their forbears had left unfinished, the
Tower of Feeblemindedness. And like their forebears, it was their intention to send the quasi artifact into the
Raurin Empire - wherever that might have been - to at last avenge their loss of the civil war that time had long
forgotten. They were unaware, of course, that the land they wished to vanquish had perished more than 3,600
years earlier.
On the other hand, they were quite aware of the growing number of goblins and orcs in their part of the
mountains. They could handle such vermin, but the wizards wished to conduct their final work and experiments
with the tower in peace, without irritations from goblinkind.
Thus, they decided to return into the heart of the homeland, to go back to the green hills of Nove Ríse that their
ancestors had fled to escape the plague from Raurin. The wizards left the Galenas in autumn of the Year of the
Eyes (1141 DR) and made the short trek over the swampy Vaasan Plain to the foot of Pelvuria, the Great
Glacier, which they did not know had existed. Nor did they recognize it as such at that time. The found the low,
icy tail mountains of the Lugsaas Chain upon the glacier and entered them, assuming these to be the green hills
of Nove Ríse in the grip of winter.
They did notice that the peaks of the Lugsaas Chain were greater than they had expected the green hills to be,
but they were not alarmed by this. They assumed that the size of the ice mountains had diminished through the
retellings of many generations of ancestors who never actually had seen them.
When they reached the largest of the ice mountains, Mount Okk, they chose it as their new home, using their
magic to build themselves an ice castle, where they stayed to finish their work upon the magical tower. Using
their environment, they also developed an arsenal of cold-based magic with which they had intended to combat
any among the Imaskari who might survive the magic of the tower.
The magic they were using consumed a king's ransom in gems, but they had brought a huge treasury of such
valuables with them to the North. These they stored in a labyrinth beneath their ice castle, guarded by a small
army of magically-generated ice monsters.
For nearly seven years, they put the final touches to the Tower of Feeblemindedness. At last, in the Year of the
Angry Sea (1148 DR), they scryed the White Worm barbarian tribe not far to their west. The wizards had
intended to unleash the tower's rays upon them, to see if the tower worked the intended magic.
It must be noted that the Tower of Feeblemindedness still had not been perfected. The band of wizards had
corrected all of the flaws made by their ancestors and had finished bits of spell weaving and raveling that their
forbears had overseen, but the artifact remain flawed.
There was another point the magi had overlooked, understandably, for they had no way of knowing it. Some
1,500 years early, a goddess of magic of whom they knew nothing had tightened the Weave in Faerûn. The
goddess, Mystra, had made it incredibly difficult for mortal men to use spells above the 9th level in her domain,
and the tower bristled with ancient Imaskari spells of 10th and 11th levels in a part of Toril where Mystra had the
say.
The wizards attempted to unleash the tower's rays upon the White Worm tribe, but the barbarians noticed
nothing but distant rumbles and thunderclaps. The high level magic had gone wild, setting off a massive
earthquake in the Lugsaas Chain of Pelvuria. A fissure opened near the base of Mount Okk, swallowing both
the ice castle and the wizards and then an avalanche dumped tons of snow and ice on the fissure, burying the
ice castle and its dead occupants. As fate would have it, only the telescoping magical tower escaped
destruction. It lay in the snow, beyond the rim of the now filled fissure.
Although none in Damara or Vaasa knew it, the two lands may have been spared a dire fate from the magic of
the tower on that day. Instead, their nation would prosper for another 199 years. But after that time, the great
tower of the Imaskari rebels was destined to begin changing the fortunes of Damara. It already has done so
once, and it well may do it again.
The 13 kings - an unlucky number - of the Bloodfeathers family who ruled Damara until Zhengyi's coming were:
1068 DR - Feldrin I 1231 DR - Sendar II

1086 DR - Tenthlar I 1259 DR - Feldrin II
1109 DR - Sendar I 1284 DR - Jacob I
1131 DR - Dimian I 1309 DR - Feldrin III
1154 DR - Tenthlar II 1343 DR - Virdin I
1176 DR - Korbol I 1357 DR - Death of Virdin,
1201 DR - Narban I last of the direct Bloodfeathers line
3.3 Zhengyi's Years … with Inconsistencies

PLEASE NOTE: As previously mentioned, detailed information on official events for these years are available
in the accessory FR9 the Bloodstone Lands by R.A. Salvatore, available as an ESD download. Official
information will be presented in capsule form in this section. Most of the information in this accessory on the
events during Zhengyi's time and after his demise are unofficial and are not documented in TSR or WotC
products! All unofficial events during Zhengyi's reign that have a bearing upon later events or situations will be
explained in full here.
In some cases, there are inconsistencies between FR9 and the H1-H4 series of Bloodstone modules. In other
cases, these earlier products may be inconsistent with later Forgotten Realms products. In this section, we will
attempt to point out these inconsistencies. In addition, the project team has taken a somewhat different
approach than earlier official materials with certain matters. Thus, the role played by the epic Iron Throne
wizardess Shandaril in the defeat of Zhengyi is described in detail, although it is slightly inconsistent with official
events.
Likewise, the H-series of modules assumes that Sir Gareth Dragonsbane builds the Damaran and Vaasan
gates of which he had dreamed and which were described in the earlier works from the 1980s. In our version,
Dragonsbane had no choice after Zhengyi's fall but to abandon this monumental project. He lacked the
finances and resources to build these huge walls, and they were impractical as well. In our version, they never
came to exist.
The official 3rd Edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (WotC 2001) establishes as canon that both gates
were indeed constructed and are in use. If you wish to use these gates in your campaign, you will find
descriptions in both FR9 from 1989 and the FRCS from 2001.
1347 DR - Year of the Bright Blade

The Year of the Bright Blade began like most others in the three and a half centuries since the Bloodstone
Lands emerged from beneath Pelvuria, the Great Glacier. On the first day of Hammer - as on most other days
in this first month of the new year - arctic winds blew down from Pelvuria and chilled the bones of Vaasa and
Damara to the marrow, promising, as always, later to yield begrudgingly to a late and short spring. And yet, it
was a mere harbinger of a Wolf Winter yet to come.
Yet some may argue that an ill as well as chill wind blew in that month, and upon it may have ridden the voice of
the second witch, speaking in the 4th act of William Shakespeare's Macbeth.
By the pricking of my thumbs,

Something wicked this way comes.
Open, locks,
Whoever knocks!
In that fell year, two somethings wicked did indeed this way come:
• In Ches, an iron-walled fortress broke through the frozen tundra of Vaasa, like the leaves of a mammoth
spring bulb prepare to open an evil flower. It soon became known as Castle Perilous, and it was home to
the lich of a former Red Wizard of Thay, Zhengyi, the Witch King of Vaasa.
• Damara too received an unwanted visitor. In Kythorn, a Sembian shipped docked in Impilturian Lyrabar,
leaving off a seemingly beautiful and young lady of means with servants in tow and wooden chests filled
with her possessions. Madeleine Tiegarth was the named she used. She booked further passage
northward to Ilmwatch, where she hired a caravan to take her entourage on to the Damaran capital of
Heliogabalus, where she had purchased an expansive mansion. After moving into it, the lady was seen
only infrequently and few came to know her. Not even those who dealt with her knew her true name:
Madame Tiegarth was none other than the epic wizardess Shandaril, one of the three most important
leaders of the Sembian Iron Throne, who had come to begin placing the trade and wealth of the Cold
Lands under the Throne's thumb.
One must note that Zhengyi was destroyed with time, and Vaasa was freed from his yoke, while Shandaril
continues to live in Heliogabalus, as the little known or seen Madeleine Tiegarth, succeeding in her mission for
the Iron Throne. But that is a tale to be told later in this tome.
NOTE: Shandaril is an official FR NSC, but her presence in Damara is an invention of the project.
The binding of Zhengyi to the former demon god of the undead, Orcus, also is canon FR material,
but the Battle of Horindon Lhar and the connection between Zhengyi and the dead FR deity Myrkul
are inventions of the project group.
Let us turn first to the tale of Zhengyi's arrival. The wizard lich - Vaasa's king and Damara's curse - arrived in
the Vaasan tundra entwined in a web of fell bindings. The Faerûnian deities Bane, Bhaal and Myrkul were in
the latter stage of their ill-fated plan to overthrow Ao in the Year of the Bright Blade.
For reasons known only to Myrkul, the Lord of Bones wished to draw the demon god of the undead, Orcus, into
the Realms. PCs who may seek this answer will have an opportunity in this adventure to ask dead Myrkul,
although it is questionable whether he will answer, but that too is a later part of this tale.
In the Year of the Bright Blade, it was not easy to bring Orcus into Faerûn. Although Toril is not part of his
domain, Orcus had attempted with disastrous results to enter the Realms some 3,000 years ago. He thought
he could use an artifact known as the Jewel of the North as the key to gain entry, and he chose the morally
weak Prince Garloth of the hidden Pescheour Kingdom in today's Tortured Lands to turn that key for him.
The attempt failed. In -1591 DR, during the Battle of Horindon Lhar in today's Greypeak Mountains, man, elf,
dwarf and the minions of Orcus and other deities meet in one of the most horrible clashes of magic ever seen
on the surface of Faerûn. The very world could have been destroyed on that fateful day.
The perpetrators had earned the wrath of Ao and were punished severely. Garloth, who then called himself
Agranthalodar, and his followers were deemed to wander the Greypeaks eternally as undead, but barred from
leaving them. Ao took the magical art of runecutting from most dwarven tribes and Spellsong from most elves.
The two Faerûnian gods involved in the battle - Tempus and Garagos - were doomed to fight and slay one
another repeatedly, until one at last achieved the other's destruction.
The demon god Orcus, who had no right to enter Faerûn, was banned from the Realms forever by Ao. He
enforced the ban with a magical barrier of positive energy that moved with the demon god, preventing him from
entering any part of the material plane.
This tale is told in more detail in the optional eighth epic level segment of Northern Journey, In
the Land of the Lich Lords. It has only an incidental bearing upon the tale of the Bloodstone
Kingdom. This accessory will be released after Bloodstone and may not yet be available when
you read this. For information on this segment, please see our website at:
As a result of Ao's wrath, Orcus was little more than a legend in the Realms for nearly 3,000 years. There were
from time to time insane fanatics who donned the goat's head robes that his order used before the fateful Battle
of Horindon Lhar, but these charlatan priests had no link to the deity they wished to worship, and they received
no spells or other powers from him.
As the Year of the Bright Blade neared, Orcus still yearned from his palace on the 333rd layer of the Abyss to
swallow souls in Faerûn, and for reasons of his own, the Faerûnian god of death as well as his allies, Bane and
Bhaal, wished to grant the demon deity his wish and bring him into the Realms, bound perhaps in service to
them.
In the preceding Year of the Bloodbird (1346 DR), the necromancer lich and former Red Wizard Zhengyi had
fled to a cave high in the Galenas between Vaasa and Damara, in barely accessible peaks south of Hillsafar
Hall. He had earned the wrath of the Thayan Zulkir of Necromancy Szass Tam and feared for his very
existence. Myrkul had watched Zhengyi's flight with great interest. He chose the lich as the tool he would use
to bring Orcus into Faerûn.
In divine communion, Myrkul ordered his high priest Deep Elder Doom Haaeluth Muribaert from the Skull Spire
Temple in Tulmon on the Lake of Steam to travel magically to Zhengyi's hideout, to present his proposal to the
lich. Muribaert did as he was bid, and Zhengyi readily agreed to Myrkul's terms. They promised him not only
the wealth and power he long had sought but also gave him allies of Myrkul's and Orcus' caliber to defend him
against Szass Tam.
Zhengyi followed Myrkul's advice, which Muribaert had given him, and in a series of nocturnal forays over a
period of three months, he captured more than 30 humans from Vaasan Sunderland and held them in his
cavern. Darmshall was, of course, alarmed and sent patrols out to seek the missing or the foe that had taken
them prisoner, but without success.
In High Summer of the Year of the Bloodbird, in a ritual Muribaert had taught him, Zhengyi slew the prisoners en
masse, performing foul rites with their corpses and their blood. His work was successful. He had opened a
conduit through Ao's positive energy barrier to Orcus in his palace in the Abyss.
Zhengyi told the demon god of his bargain with Myrkul. Orcus, who already had dealt with the Lord of Bones on
the matter, accepted Zhengyi as his servant. The conduit Zhengyi had opened to Orcus was far too narrow for
the demon god to use it to gate himself into Faerûn, but Myrkul had taught the lich how to construct such a gate.
While Zhengyi began taking the necessary steps to do so, Orcus began filling him with the awesome magical
power he would need to succeed.
The prosperous Damarans south of the Galenas had come to pay little heed to Vaasa. Although one knew that
the mountains surrounding the swampy kingdom, including the ice mountains of the glacier in the north, were
filled with 200,000 monsters or more. The giants and goblinkind of Vaasa were disorganized, wont to slay one
another and ill-equipped to march upon Damara and reach it in fit condition to wage war. In addition, if a
serious threat to the kingdom were to arise in Vaasa, the Damarans were confident that the signal fires would
burn above Hillsafar Hall or that messengers would arrive from Darmshall.
Such messengers did in fact arrive on several occasions, but their news was too vague for either Damara or
Darmshall to be certain what to do with it. Darmshall and even Bloodstone Village watched in trepidation after a
mysterious, ironclad castle had exploded from the Vaasan swamp north of Dead Man's Walk in a single day's
time … any yet … nothing seemed to go into or come out of the castle.
The observation of the Vaasans and Damarans was, of course, not quite correct. Zhengyi went frequently to
and from his Castle Perilous, as simple folk began to call it, but his movement was through the Underdark,
beginning beneath the magical fortress and then under the bedrock below the swamp and tundra and into the
mountains.
He traveled to orcs, goblins, ogres and giants, most of them concentrated in the Western Galenas, in the
mountains southwest of Hillsafar Hall and in the East Galenas northeast of Bloodstone Pass. The awesome
fear that overcame these monsters in the presence of a lich might have been sufficient in itself to bring these
quarrelling monster tribes together in Zhengyi's ban, but the witch king took no chances. He charmed them with
the power he had gained from Orcus, and with this power he gained the absolute command over them.
Thus, the unsettling peace that Darmshall had noticed came over Vaasa late in the Year of the Blight Blade.
The monster hordes no longer were fighting one another; they were training for the war into which their witch
king would send them.
While Zhengyi was busy bringing the monster hordes in line, Myrkul's priests were working in the northwest of
the Realms, finding goat's head priests, telling them their demon god would return, if they went to Vaasa to help
him, and urging other men of evil intent to travel over the Moonsea region, Garumn's Climb and Dead Man's
Walk to Castle Perilous, to join in serving the new witch king of the East.
Before the Year of the Bright Blade ended, Zhengyi already had won what he believed to be an important
partner as well, the Tiamatist lich Kargmelchina, who dwelt secretly in a cave in the Eastern Galenas above
Palishchuk. Kargmelchina could call dragons to his aid.
Thus, we come to the end of Zhengyi's tale in the Year of the Bright Blade. Here it is time to follow the tale of
Shandaril.
NOTE: D&D 3E and AD&D 2E statistics and character descriptions for Dalton Krenn, Hagurd and Shandaril
can be found in the New Unofficial NPCs section of Version 8 of the Northern Journey Campaign Guide.
Additional information can be found in the guide within the section Dragon Cult, Zhentarim,
Iron Throne and Harpers under FAQ for Game Masters.
Shandaril is an official FR NPC who was modified by the project group for Northern Journey.
The full, earlier, official history of Shandaril can be found in the section Shandaril's Workbook
of FR4 The Magister by Ed Greenwood and Steve Perrin (TSR - 1988). This publication is
available as an ESD download.
Shandaril is one of the three Shadow Lords of the Iron Throne in Sembia. In theory, Shandaril of Selgaunt, the
Ordulin merchant Dalton Krenn and his close partner Hagurd, both of Ordulin, all are equals in the highest
echelon of the Throne. As is usual within the Throne, they are unknown to their underlings.
In truth, Krenn, whom the other two call the Throne's "chairman," is first among equals in the Throne's high
triumvirate. There are few people in the world whom Shandaril would hesitate to cross, but she would shudder
at the idea of double dealing Krenn, although is neither mage nor sorcerer, nor is he a priest, a bard, a fighter or
a rogue of particular talent. Instead, he is one of the most expert merchants in Faerûn, and enemy he ever had
had has died - sometimes a horrible death - after crossing him.
The necromancer Hagurd is an entirely different story. Shandaril views him as a rival and would do her best to
destroy Hagurd, if Krenn were not there to protect him. That should not be too surprising; it is consistent with
her long career as a wizardess.
Hagurd regrets Shandaril's antipathy toward him. It makes it considerable more difficult for him to fulfill his
mission. Hagurd is the highest placed agent of the Zhentarim within the Iron Throne, although his secret is
known only to Fzoul Chembryl in Zhentil Keep, Manshoon in the Citadel of the Raven and Hagurd himself.
Shandaril's attitude toward him has made Hagurd more determined than ever to protect Krenn. If Krenn were to
be eliminated, Hagurd would have to attempt to destroy Shandaril immediately, to keep her from taking Krenn's
place, which would horrendously damage the Zhentarim infiltration of the Throne. Hagurd would prefer to avoid
such a confrontation.
Both Krenn and Hagurd are simply background NPCs in this section of Northern Journey, while Shandaril is a
key NPC who pulls many of the strings that influence events occurring around the PC group, even if the PCs do
not encounter her or even become aware of her.
Shandaril was born in Telflamm but moved as a child to Sembian Selgaunt, where she received her first
magical training. It was at this time that Dalton Krenn first took note of her after becoming a business
acquaintance of her father. His notice was drawn above all by her ravishing beauty.
From the beginning, Shandaril had an evil bent. She joined the Company in Crimson of the mage Thalaver in
the city of Suzail in Cormyr, but she slew Thalaver and all other members of the company to steal their magic
and then returned to Suzail to loot Thalaver's tower.
The court mage of Cormyr, Vangerdahast, caught her there, and she boasted to him of her deeds and then
barely escaped with a teleportation spell. To this day, an arrest warrant remains open for her in Cormyr. After
fleeing Vangerdahast, Shandaril fled to the South of the Realms, where she remained active but difficult to
locate.
In this phase of her career, she had become one of the worst banes of other magi in the South. There she
created a valuable spellbook known as Shandaril's Workbook (fully detailed in FR4), which she used as a trap
for other magi.
She placed one of her own spells, Shandaril's Tracer (also detailed in FR4) upon the book and the set it in
circulation. As it came into the possession of other magi, she would use the tracer spell to find the mage who
had acquired the book, slay him or her and then steal his or her magic. By those means, she rose so rapidly to
epic levels.
In the Year of the Saddle (1345 DR), Manshoon made his first key move to infiltrate the upper echelons of the
Iron Throne. It was the Zhentarim goal at this time to spy upon the Throne rather than to completely manipulate
it. That goal - formulated by Fzoul Chembryl in Zhentil Keep after the Time of Troubles - superceded the first
plan after the Time of Troubles.
Manshoon's ally of old, Hagurd, already had reached a respectable level within the Throne and had gained the
names of the three triumvirate members at the time. In addition, his bonds with Krenn had been close for years.
Manshoon and Hagurd decided to support Krenn as the first among equals within the Throne triumvirate but to
assassinate the other two members.
Both of them were Sembian merchants on in their years. Specialist assassins from Calimshan were hired sent
to do Ordulin in the Year of the Bloodbird (1346 DR) to do the job. Within a year's time, both men had died of
seemingly natural causes without raising suspicion. Krenn did not mind; it gave him a free hand to build his own
triumvirate.
After the deaths of the two other triumvirate members, Hagurd provided Krenn with magic from Zhentil Keep (he
did not identify the origin) that gives the Throne leader the extraordinary protection he enjoys (detailed in
Version 8 of the Northern Journey Campaign Guide). Krenn had been inclined to appoint Hagurd as a
triumvirate member, and this sealed his decision.
Hagurd had hoped to influence Krenn to appoint another ranking Throne member, but Krenn had ideas of his
own. The Throne had kept a watch on the activities of important magi within the Realms, and among those who
were in the Throne's eye was Shandaril of Selgaunt, who had found her way into Halruaa.
Krenn was a man who preferred mistresses to wives, and he enjoyed changing mistresses with some regularity.
He never had forgotten the ravishing beauty of a younger Shandaril in Selgaunt, and her stature as a mage had
grown to a level where she also was exactly the type of person he wanted in the triumvirate. Another high level
Throne mage was sent to Halruaa to bring Krenn's proposition - which included both power and a place in his
bed - to Shandaril.
In Halruaa, Shandaril had bitten off more than she could chew. She had been caught by three powerful
Halruaan magi seeking revenge for her murder of a colleague and slowly was being spell blasted to death by
them. The Throne mage who teleported himself on the scene broke the Halruaans stride for a moment and left
them undecided for an instant whether they should blast him or continue slaying their target. The Sembian was
a bit faster; he teleported the dying Shandaril back to Ordulin before the Halruaans had acted.
Krenn had to see to it that Shandaril was healed before he could make his proposition to her. She was ready
immediately to grab the power he was offering, and she consented to his desire to have her as a bedmate, an
affair that had run its course in little more than two months. Only Shandaril knows what her feelings were
toward the second part of the deal she had made.
Krenn's plan was to keep himself and Hagurd in Ordulin, to maintain control of Throne operations in the
Western Heartlands. He viewed the areas east of the Dragon Reach as being ripe for a Throne picking,
although the Throne's presence there had been minimal. His eye was particularly upon the roaring bloodstone
market in Damara.
He thought Shandaril's inventiveness was the key gradually succeeding in taking over control of the Damaran
bloodstone and also the central marketplace Impiltur's merchants of Hlammach dominated in the East. He
offered her the job of organizing and taking over business in all lands of the East that were north of the Inner
Sea and the Golden Way. He also warned her to gain control of Damara's bloodstone markets as quickly as
possible, because he was convinced the Zhentarim would do so instead, if the Throne moved too slowly.
Thus it was that Madeleine Tiegarth's carriage pulled up in front of Bethlraun's Manor in Heliogabalus in Late
Kythorn of the Year of the Bright Blade. The house was named after its former owner, an Impilturian merchant
who had retired and returned to his home in Hlammach. The few who watched saw one of the most beautiful
women in Damara emerge from the carriage together with a dashing man whose alert eyes crossed the face of
every curious bystander, registering its details.
The man was seen often in Heliogabalus. He was known as Titus Traud, a Sembian merchandise transporter.
The beautiful woman who arrived with him, presumed by most to be his mistress, seldom was seen. It seemed
that she preferred to live reclusively in her great and well guarded manor house rather than playing the great
role she might have in the upper society of Damara's capital.
Little of what the curious had seen had much to do with reality. Madeleine Tiegarth was, of course, Shandaril.
She was more beautiful than the wizardess whom she disguised. Shandaril had lost some although not much
of the great beauty of her youth, but she restored that after being in Heliogabalus for awhile.
Traud was an interesting exception to Shandaril's previous love life. She had been used to using the men in her
life and then abandoning them or even slaying them. Traud was a middle level member of the Sembian Throne.
Krenn had assigned him to serve Shandaril in her new position in Damara. The wizardess truly had fallen in
love with Traud, for the first and only time in her life, and he had fallen in love with her.
Because he was her beloved paramour, Shandaril had made much more of Traud than would have become of
him in Sembia. He became the No. 2 figure in Throne operations east of the Dragon Reach and serves as the
public manifestation of Shandaril herself, although few but the two of them are aware of this.
The evil wizardess and her consort came to Damara believing themselves to be on the threshold of great power
and glory. When they had sailed from the harbor of Selgaunt, there had been no news of evil things happening
in the Cold Lands. However, they had been in Bethlraun's Manor in Heliogabalus but a few days, when Traud
began making contact with the fewer lower level agents the Throne already had in the city.
To his dismay, he learned of the strange ironclad tower that had arisen in the Vaasan swamps and of the quiet
that had come over the heretofore quarrelling tribes of giants and goblinkind in the Vaasan mountains. He
learned that Damara viewed the Vaasan situation complacently, while Darmshall and Hillsafar Hall in the
Galenas both were alarmed.
Shandaril and Traud both were convinced that the strange tower in the Vaasan swamp bode ill for Damara and
their plans to begin gaining control of the bloodstone trade and other thriving businesses in the kingdom. As the
short Damaran summer faded and Eleint began drawing cool breezes down from Pelvuria, the Great Glacier,
Shandaril and two lesser magi of the Throne who had come recently paid a visit to Castle Perilous, although
they did not know it yet by that name.
The three traveled, heavily layered in Shandaril's spells, shielded from many kinds of harm, shielded by
invisibility and shielded from scrying eyes. They do not know to this day whether anything or anyone observed
them as they came to Zhengyi's tower, but they found no person, living, dead or undead, and they found no
means to enter the tower.
All they discovered was an immense and powerful aura of evil emanating from the tower, evil so fell and deep-
running that it sent fear even into Shandaril's dark soul. But except for their fear, they returned to Damara
knowing little more before about the threat they had perceived.
NOTE: The 1347-48 winter was the legendary Wolf Winter, according to canon sources. To make the events
of this history more credible, we have moved it to 1348-49.
1348 DR - Year of the Spur

The Cult of the Goat's Head was founded in Netheril, in the times when Orcus began to make his power felt in
the empire of the arcanists. Most sages who specialize in Netherese lore trace the interests of some
necromantic arcanists to a period somewhat before -3200 DR. In -2974 DR, necromancers of the cult already
had traveled to Orcus' Palace to obtain the Jewel of the Abyss from him, which hey in turn passed on the leader
of the burgeoning cult, Agranthalodar.
NOTE: This tale is told in detail in the optional eighth part of Northern Journey, In the Land of the
Lich Lords.
The cult, as it had been known in Netheril, came to a crashing end after the Battle of Horindon Lhar in -1591
DR, when Orcus was severed from the Realms by Ao's barrier of positive energy. In that moment, all
Netherese priests of Orcus lost all of their specialty abilities as well as their access to divine spells.
Despite this tremendous blow, however, the cult did not die out completely. On the contrary, after the fall of
Netheril in the Year of the Sundered Webs (-339 DR), the cult began to grow again, slowly, quietly and in a
different manner. Throughout its Netherese history, the cult had been devoted to the creation of undead, and
that devotion was religious in nature. The goat's head priests had been men and women with spell powers that
matched the abilities of the great necromancer arcanists.
In the years after the Battle of Horindon Lhar and before Netheril's fall, the Cult of the Goat's Head had become
a secret coven of necromancers with fervent religious motivation. The Netherese understood that Orcus was
not dead but merely barred from the Realms, and the cult's necromancers were certain that Ao's ban of the
demon god would be broken one day.
They affirmed their devotion to their demon god and their belief in his return through the necromantic rites.
They worshipped their exiled deity, slew their prisoners and animated them as well as the stolen remnants of
other dead from Netherese cemeteries in secret temples, most of them near Netherese cities or outside of them,
and some of them even within the great empire's floating cities.
The cult also spread beyond Netheril's borders, with small secret covens forming in Ascalhorn as well as in the
settlements we now know as Sundabar, Jalanthar, Everlund, Llorkh and Loudwater. Other covens formed in
the Moonsea region. After the fall of Netheril, the cult's greatest following rose and fell again with the turning to
evil of the short-lived Kingdom of Athalanta and its eventual decline, which appears to have diminished the
strength of the cult substantially for several centuries.
After the corruption of Ascalhorn began in the Year of Doom (820 DR) the cult enjoyed a great renewal in the
falling city, with a large temple, the Palace of the Goat's Head, being established there. By the time Ascalhorn
had fallen completely to summoned outsiders in the Year of the Curse (882 DR), the palace was the only temple
left standing in what now was known as Hellgate Keep.
Some sages say that the Balor who ruled Hellgate Keep supported the Cult of the Goat's Head because of its
loyalty to the demon god Orcus. Others say they left the cult unscathed because of their fear of Orcus. The
answer may never be known; Hellgate Keep was destroyed in the Year of the Gauntlet (1369 DR) through the
activation of the Gatekeeper's Crystal.
NOTE: Game masters who want more detail on the rise and fall of Ascalhorn and its continuation
and fall as Hellgate Keep should acquire the following TSR products: The North boxed set by
slade with Jim Butler (1996), Volo's Guide to the North by Ed Greenwood (1993), FR5 The Savage
Frontier by Paul Jaquays (1988) and Hellgate Keep by Steven E. Schend (1998). The paperware
versions of these products all are out of print, but they can be downloaded from the Internet, most
free, as follows:
• The North (free download):

http://www.wizards.com/forgottenrealms/thenorth.asp
• Volo's Guide to the North (free download):

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/2/fr_downloads/tsr9393.zip
• FR5 The Savage Frontier (free download):

• Hellgate Keep (ESD Download)

available as an ESD download from RPG Now and SV Games.
During the glory years of the Palace of the Goat's Head, the high necromancers in Hellgate Keep had a rather
widespread albeit small and concentrated following in the settlements just west and southwest of Anauroch and
in the Moonsea area. The most remote of the covert temples was in Glister in the grey land of Thar.
Yet, when Hellgate Keep fell in the Year of the Gauntlet (1369 DR), the Cult of the Goat's Head had been but a
memory from its past, because its necromancers, along with all other cultists in the North and the Moonsea
region had departed for Vaasa early in the Year of the Spur.
The exodus was largely the work of Myrkul, then the god death. Shortly after Ao had banned Orcus from the
Realms follow the cataclysmic Battle of Horindon Lhar, the Lord of Bones had begun taking an interest in the
followers of the Faerûnian demon god, although many centuries passed before he began acting upon this
interest.
Myrkul viewed undeath as merely one of the many forms of death. This, of course, is in total contract to the
position of Myrkul's modern day successor, Kelemvor, who views undeath as a profanation of death and who
has given his followers the mission of destroying undead.
Precisely which thoughts Myrkul had entertained in unknown, but many of his priests from before the Time of
Troubles who since have converted to Kelemvor's faith have certain hypotheses for the dead god's motivation.
Curious PCs who take part in the optional eighth part of Northern Journey, In the land of the Lich Lords, might
have a chance to ask them. What remained of Myrkul's essence has been reassembled as an enslaved
Hunefer in the Greypeak Mountains of the Northwest. But that is a part of a later tale, if, indeed, any at all in
your campaign.
His former priests believe that Myrkul had hoped to replace Orcus eventually as the cult's deity, if Orcus
remained barred from Faerûn, or to form an alliance with him, if he could be restored to the Realms. Myrkul's
high priest in the 1340s, Deep Elder Doom Haaeluth Muribaert from the Skull Spire Temple in Tulmon on the
Lake of Steam (now a high level Doomguide of Kelemvor), was recruited by the Lord of Bones to convince the
Cult of the Goat's Head to migrate to Vaasa, there to build a conduit great enough to pave the way for Orcus to
enter the Realms.
The deeds of the cult would do in Vaasa during Zhengyi's time seem in retrospect the support Muribaert's
contentions, although there are many who argue against his claims, saying that only a fool would support such
a plan, that Ao could immediately ban Orcus again in a new manner.
Although the counter argument appears to be logical at first, one must remember that Myrkul, Bane and Bhaal
were convinced that they would overthrow Ao and succeed him. In this light, then, it is perhaps believable that
Myrkul and perhaps the other two deities as well might have welcomed Orcus' entry into Faerûn, believing the
could win him as a new ally, one who would bolster their armies as hosts of the undead, which is the essence of
Muribaert's thinking.
Whatever the case may be, priests of Myrkul began joining cells of the cult in the 11th century. In the Year of the
Beckoning Death (1253 DR), the high priest of the cult in Hellgate Keep, Durnion Mulban, had become the
highest priest of the Lord of the Bones in all of Faerûn, and the Palace of the Goat's Head was said to be
second only to Skull Spire Temple in Tulmon among Myrkul's major centers of worship.
The church of Myrkul succeeded quickly in its attempts to work with the necromancers of the Cult of the Goat's
Head in Hellgate Keep. The Gray Ones of Myrkul made no attempt to establish the Lord of Bones as the
successor of Orcus. On the contrary, they preached that Orcus would return and reward their faith.
They claimed that Myrkul met often with Orcus in the Abyss and formed an alliance- which might have been true
- and that Myrkul had been asked by the demon god to serve as his regent in Faerûn, supporting his church
until Orcus could return. The Gray Ones offered to send priests of their own faith to Hellgate Keep, to re-
establish the old but extinct order of goat's head priests, who would receive divine powers and spells
temporarily from Myrkul, until Orcus himself returned to begin giving them his own blessing.
Finally, the Gray Ones promised the cultists that they personally would have the honor and privilege of opening
the magical barrier of positive energy that would bring Orcus into the Realms. Myrkul was not deluding the
cultists in these claims. He had every intention of fulfilling his promises.
Thus, small bands of men wearing goat's head capes frequently were observed passing over Garumn's climb
and going down Dead Man's Walk to Castle Perilous in the summer of the Year of the Spur. The strange-
looking migration ended in early Eleint, when a band of more than 40 cultists, the full contingent from Hellgate
Keep, reached Zhengyi's fortress, the last migrant band.
The cultists did not go unnoticed. Rangers eventually brought news of the bizarre migration to King Virdin in
Damara, who his interest was piqued and who was concerned by the news, although less alarmed than
warranted. The rangers had reported a migration of less than 150 men, and none of them were heavily armed
or armored, nor did they show outward signs of being magi.
At this time, the court was occupied with reports from the Bloodstone Mines of the discovery of several new
veins and the crown's need to decide which veins should be given the priority for new explorations. Although
the king had intended to discuss the rangers' reports with his minister, he put the matter aside for the time being
and did not think of it again until it was too late.
King Virdin might have made more of the matter is the goat's head costumes had been recognized for what they
were. Sadly, neither the monarch nor his followers no anything of the Cult of the Goat's Head, nor had they
heard of the demon god Orcus, whose presence had been unknown to most in Faerûn for nearly 3,000 years.
Agents of the Iron Throne brought word of the goat's head migration to Shandaril as well. In contrast to the
Damarans, she knew a bit about the symbol. She knew the tale of Orcus being banned after the Battle of
Horindon Lhar and also knew that strange necromancers in the Moonsea region and the North still claimed to
worship the banned demon god, but she also knew that they had not been a significant factor in the fates and
fortunes of any of the areas in which they had been active.
She believed the information channels of the Iron Throne to be among the best in Faerûn. She was certain she
would have been informed if the demon god Orcus actually had entered into the Realms, for the Throne kept
close watch on such matters and had several powerful sages in its employ. But up to that time, Shandaril had
heard no news whatsoever concerning Orcus.
Unfortunately, the Throne offered her no further sources of information in Damara. Her operation had not
waxed to the point where she could maintain her own network of Throne sages in the Bloodstone Lands.
However, a sage of considerable repute, known to be free of alliances and to have a closed and trustworthy
mouth had been recommended to her - Mundelraun of Kinnery. As Madeleine Tiegarth, the wizardess decided
to pay Mundelraun a visit, taking with her a small fortune to pay for his services.
While the cultists were making their southeastward trek toward Vaasa, Zhengyi was busy magically scrying the
levels of the Underdark deep below King Virdin's mines. A magical vision had shown him a two-tiered system of
caverns and diggings, with the human mines on the upper level and a svirfneblin mining kingdom with a great
colony of duergar or grey dwarves as neighbors on the lowest level.
The barrier between the Witch King and the demon lord remained strong. Orcus could funnel only a small
amount of his power into the lich. Zhengyi required considerable time to find what he was seeking, but at last,
he had the keys he needed to begin opening Faerûn to Orcus. He needed only the wherewithal to do it. Thus,
he retired to Castle Perilous to wait until it arrived.
The members of the Cult of the Goat's Head were a main ingredient in Zhengyi's formula. After their arrival at
Castle Perilous, Zhengyi chose the high priest from the Palace of the Goat's Head in Hellgate Keep to lead the
mission he was planning to conquer first the svirfneblin mines and then Damara's Royal Bloodstone Mines.
In the days when the empire of Nove Ríse stood in the Galenas and beyond, the rebel Imaskari wizards and
sorcerers had established a series of conjuration levels where the Bloodstone Mines now are formed. These
were gates of a dimension well beyond the ability of today's magi. However, the earthquakes caused during the
formation of the Great Glacier Pelvuria closed all of the upper entrance levels to the conjuration chamber of the
first level.
Zhengyi had determined that the upper chamber itself survived the earthquakes mostly unscathed, but it was
accessible only from an ancient tunnel the svirfneblin had not yet explored, one that ran off of from one of their
older, abandoned mine shafts where a gold vein had petered out. The chamber held a large pool of mercury
that the Imaskari rebels had created.
The magic of the old Imaskari conjuration network still led to the Abyss, but it had no ability of its own to
penetrate Ao's barrier of positive energy containing Orcus on the opposite end. Zhengyi knew that an
overwhelming amount of negative energy needed to be fed into the pool to make it capable of penetrating Ao's
barrier sufficiently for the demon god to move through the pool into the material plane. It was his intention to set
about doing that.
In mid-Eleint, Zhengyi chose the high priest Banak to lead a mission of 12 cultists into the Galenas. Before
reaching Vaasa, Banak had been the high priest of Myrkul in the Palace of the Goat's Head within Hellgate
Keep. The Witch King magically transported Banak and 11 followers, all necromancers and priests, into the
chamber of the deep gnomes where the mercury pool lay, unseen by mortal eyes for many centuries. All were
hidden by Improved Invisibility spells.
At the mercury pool, Banak performed a fell ritual that Zhengyi had taught him, one which would allow Orcus to
fill a victim with awesome amounts of his own power, reshape the victim into a creature of his own liking and
then control it, until the magic and the creature both dissipated into nothingness.
The cultists then passed through the tunnel into the duergar domain and came across a lone gray dwarf out on
a solo raid for food. With magical enchantments, they drew the dwarf back through the tunnel to the pool of
mercury. The duergar could not see the cultists, but he felt the pool calling to him, reached out his hand and
touched it.
A blinding bolt of blue light shot from the pool, turning corners unnaturally and reaching into every corner of the
svirfneblin colony. The duergar was transformed on the spot into a tremendous creature of horror with the
glowing horns of a goat protruding from its head. It marched out of the pool chamber and began blasting the
walls of the svirfneblin halls with bolts of fire from its fingertips.
However, when the deep gnomes emerged from their caves, the creature did not attempt to destroy them but
rather entranced them with blue rays that emanated from its eyes, herding those not fortunate enough to
escape its magic into a great hall of the colony, which it sealed with a magical barrier.
The abysmal horror then rose through the shafts of the Bloodstone Mines and attacked the workers there in the
same manner. A full shift, one-third of the dwarven and human miners, were working the mines when the
nightmare of Orcus arrived. Less than a dozen escaped, although few were killed. The captives were herded
into the main hall of the mines, where the monster sealed them in with magic.
It then returned to the cultists who had made its summoning possible, leading them back to the mercury pool.
There it flood them with rays of blue light from its eyes. The necromancers and priests of Myrkul were
transformed immediately into priests of Orcus, with a full complement of divine powers and spells and
substantial increases in their levels.
The abomination and the cultists now entered the duergar domain, where Banak told the trembling, assembled
clan that the horror before them was Orcus, their new deity, who would lead the duergar to great glory. The
foolish dwarves immediately submitted themselves to the demon god. In turn, Banak told them that the
Svirfneblin colony and the Bloodstone Mines now belonged to them and Orcus.
He ordered the dwarves to build the greatest of all temples to Orcus in their new underground domain, and he
told them it would be their honor in the not too distant future to usher their new deity through the mercury pool
into the Realms, where they would be the first among his servants. All of the priests of the duergar clan then
were taken to the pool, where they were transformed in the same manner as their human counterparts had
been into priests of Orcus. They were told to go to the surface and raid farms in Bloodstone Pass, to obtain all
they needed to fashion goat's head capes for themselves.
The abomination then led its human priests and a host of duergar to the captive svirfneblin and the captive
humans and dwarves of the Bloodstone Mines, forcing all of the prisoners to march to the chamber of the
mercury pool. With a blast of cold flame that rose from deep within its throat, the monster forced all of the
prisoners into the pool of mercury.
It boiled with the energy of its dying victims and in lower levels unleashed chains of explosions as positive and
negative energy forces clashed. When all had subsided, the skeletons of the dead arose animate from the
mercury, awaiting Banak's command, while the great abomination slowly dissolved itself in the mercury, as the
horrendous laughter of Orcus echoed from the depths of the mercury.
One by one, 12 demons arose from the pool's depths - a nalfeshnee, three hezrou and eight vrocks. The
nalfeshnee told Banak that the demons would take over command of the duergar and their domain and train the
duergar goat's head priests in the tenets of Orcus' faith. Banak ordered the undead host to begin its slow march
to Castle Perilous, while he and his followers returned by faster magical methods.
Throughout Bloodstone Valley beneath the entrance to the mines, it was apparent that something horrible had
happened, although much time would pass before the folk knew what had occurred. In the halls of the Orothiar
dwarves, in the simple homes of men, in the holes of the halflings of the Waukeshire and among the centaurs of
the Warrenwood, a series of temblors shook the ground lightly.
Then all sensed incredible pain being suffered nearby followed by a sense of much life passing from Faerûn.
Finally, an evil stillness and a deep cold, a sudden temperature drop of more than 15° F/10° C touched the
valley and then passed again, living only a stillness that eventually was broken by the screams of madmen and
insane dwarves.
The few escapees from the Bloodstone Mines were returning home, all raving mad from the sight of Orcus'
abomination. Only a few days later, after capable healers could be brought to Bloodstone Valley to cure the
victims of their madness did man and dwarf at last hear of the great abomination that had walked through and
conquered the Bloodstone Mines. And at about the same time, reports came from Vaasa that hundreds of
animated mercury skeletons in the sizes of humans, dwarves and svirfneblin were marching toward Castle
Perilous.
The news from Bloodstone Pass shook all of Damara, above all the court of King Virdin in Heliogabalus. In the
frosty days before the Harvestide festival, a troop of 200 elite Damaran soldiers rode northward from
Heliogabalus into Bloodstone Pass, to combat the terror in the mines. The soldiers never returned, but within a
few days of their entry into the mines, Vaasan rangers reported that another host of some 200 skeletons had
been seen marching from the Galenas toward Castle Perilous. Unknown to the rangers, four more vrocks and
two more hezrous had gated into the shafts beneath the Bloodstone Mines.
Although it meant a loss of more than 400,000 gold talers* in bloodstone annually, King Virdin was forced to
close the Bloodstone Mines until an answer was found to defeat whatever menace that lurked in them. The
only information the Damarans had was the description of Orcus' abomination that the few survivors of the first
attack had reported. King Virdin knew nothing of the demons and duergar now occupying the mines, nor did he
know of an important pocket of resistance still surviving in the depth.
* NOTE: The H-series of Bloodstone modules sets this figure at 100,000 gold pieces annually.
FR9 upped this figure to 400,000 gold pieces, the figure we have chosen to use.
The svirfneblin King Ruggedo and about half of the original deep gnome population had been in a magically
protected wing of their halls of which the duergar were unaware, nor had the abomination found its way into this
part of the svirfneblin colony. The king and his followers were desperate but also willing and able to help any
competent party of rescuers.
In the night before the Harvestide festival, Zhengyi struck his second blow against Damara. The so-called Wolf
Winter fell upon the land at a time when only a small part of the harvest had be brought in, destroying the crops
that still were in the fields and the fruit that still hung from the trees. Within two days of the festival, almost all of
Damara from Valls, Praka and Trailsend northward lay under a yard/meter of snow, with temperatures
descending to -20° F/-30° C. Prosperous Damara had become a disaster area.
By Harvestide, Zhengyi also had transported all of the members of the Cult of the Goat's Head who had come to
Castle Perilous magically to the mercury pool beneath the Bloodstone Mines, where the newly converted
duergar cultist, following the orders of their own goat's head priests, were diligently building the temple Zhengyi
to Orcus that Zhengyi had envisioned.
The great mercury pool was the focal point of the new temple. With each victim who had been slain and
reanimated as undead, the aura of power around the pool had grown, and with each victim, the opening in Ao's
barrier of energy grew larger. Through this breach flowed the power of the demon lord, into the cultists whom
Zhengyi had sent to the temple. That power cleansed them of their path and reconsecrated them as priests of
the goat's head in the service of Orcus, making each of them more powerful than he or she had been before.
In Heliogabalus, substantial rewards were offered by both the king and the Damaran Merchants League for
mercenaries and adventurers who would liberate the mines. Several groups braved the deep winter, traveling
to and entering the closed mines in an attempt to win those rewards, and they would continue to do so for
several years, but none ever returned from the mines.
The prosperity of Damara had turned into disaster within a few months. Both the royal court and the Merchants
League in Heliogabalus were at a loss what to do next. Shandaril was less emotional about things. It was clear
to her that the empire she wished to build in the East would be diminished quickly if she and the Iron Throne
didn't act. She doubted that King Virdin would provide the answer to her problems.
As Madeleine Tiegarth, the wizardess traveled in a coach with closed curtains and a small caravan to Kinnery in
what now is southern Soravia, to visit the sage Mundelraun. In the wagons accompanying her coach were
jewels, gold, bloodstone bars and items of magic the mage thought might interest the sage, all intended as
possible payment for his services.
The Iron Throne had not dealt yet with Mundelraun at that time, but it knew of his outstanding reputation for
complete neutrality and discretion with the customers with whom he dealt. In her first sessions with
Mundelraun, in early Marpenoth, the sage revealed what his scrying had showed him. Thus, Shandaril learned
long before King Virdin that a lich, formerly a Red Wizard Thayan necromancer known as Zhengyi, was the
occupant of Castle Perilous.
She learned of the Cult of the Goat's Head priests in Castle Perilous, who again received divine powers and
spells from the demon god, and she learned too of the hundreds of thousands of giants, ogres, orcs, goblins
and other of their kin merging into an army in the mountains of Vaasa.
With this new and highly expensive knowledge, Shandaril established contact with Dalton Krenn in Sembian
Ordulin, to discuss how the Iron Throne should react to this situation. There were several possibilities. The
Throne could pull out of Damara completely, looking upon its brief presence there as a bad investment. It could
try to throw in with the Witch King in Vaasa. It could send magi and other help to Damara. Or it could watch
and see what Zhengyi planned.
To Shandaril's dismay, Krenn brought Hagurd immediately into the discussion. Shandaril wanted the Throne to
take the last option, to wait and see what Zhengyi would do next. Hagurd advocated an immediate pullout,
arguing that the Throne in the end only would waste valuable resources fighting Zhengyi and the church of
Orcus. Krenn remained uncommitted in the first stages of the magical meeting of minds.
All three agreed that the Throne had nothing to gain by casting its lot with Zhengyi. The Witch King and the
followers of Orcus would produce nothing but trouble for the Throne. All three also were reluctant to support
King Virdin's government, even secretly. Krenn at last suggested that the Throne stay out of the situation for
the time being.
He believed the Throne itself might have to find a way to defeat Zhengyi, bit that it would profit the Throne in the
long run if the current Ilmater-rooted monarchy would fall, and the Throne could step in and place a number of
its own people into the new rulership. Over some objections from Hagurd, Krenn agreed to Shandaril's plea that
the Throne watch and wait for the time being, but Krenn said he expected the wizardess to find a means of
ridding the Cold Lands of both Zhengyi and the Cult of the Goat's Head while one watched and waited. He also
agreed to provide her with additional finances.
As a wizardess, Shandaril thought she might be a match for Zhengyi. However, she was not ready to risk going
alone against Zhengyi, 18 demons and more than 100 goat's head priests, to say nothing of 200,000 or so
giants, ogres, orcs and other goblinkind who were preparing for war in the mountains. She sought another path,
and it took her back to Mundelraun in Kinnery, or so she believes.
Mundelraun has earned his reputation of being absolutely trustworthy with customers' secrets, but he also
protects and keeps his own; the sage hasn't been in Damara for years. He remains in the Novularond
Mountains of Pelvuria, living in the Imaskari rebel artifact Bohuclav's Tower, which may be beyond the ability of
any living mortal to find, above all because none know it is there to seek.
Knowledge of the tower or the existence of Kniha hvezdi, his Imaskari Book of Stars, which describes the
location of the tower and other Imaskari rebel sites are secrets Mundelraun does not sell. If he did, it would
ease Shandaril's mind. One point that disturbs her yet about the sage was his lack of concern for his own
safety in the face of Zhengyi's threat to all of Damara. She has never been able to reconcile this with
Mundelraun's obvious desire to accumulate a material fortune and ever more objects of unusual magic.
On the other hand, if she did know the secret of Mundelraun's tower it well might mean his doom. For decades,
Shandaril has been dealing with other magi in much the same manner a female black widow spider deals with
her mate.
The Year of the Spur ended with Zhengyi the Witch King convinced that nothing in his path which might wish to
stop him was capable of doing so, and he bid the year his farewell by finalizing plans for his next wave of terror
upon Damara.
In doing so, he failed to reckon with two formidable enemies, both of whom were uncertain of the strategies at
the moment. One of them, the wizardess Shandaril, he could not take into consideration, because he knew
nothing of her, although she was the greatest power in Damara. The other he merely underestimated, the folk
of Damara, who had been stunned by the events that had befallen them, but they were a tough and hardy folk,
not the submissive fools the lich believed them to be.
In this sense, Zhengyi had made two small mistakes: He had learned too little about his enemies, therefore
remaining unaware of one of them until it was too late, and he had underestimated the other. In doing so, he
laid the groundwork for his own fall, but it was long in coming.
1349 DR - Year of the Bridle

Many a Damaran laid down his or her life in the Wolf Winter of 1348 and 1349. Most who lived in remote areas
without access to the central granaries maintained in almost all settlements died of starvation. Others fell victim
to the packs of dire wolves that the lich controlled and sent in a wave of slaughter across northern Damara.
Many of the victims who had survived the wolves' attacks were infected with lycanthropy.
The open lands between the Goliad and Ice Lake rivers and on both banks of the Galena Snake north of
Kinnery and Goliad had been home to nearly a thousand cattle ranching families before the Wolf Winter. Only a
handful of those who had lived there survived.
The balance was grim for Damara, but it was an empty success for Zhengyi as well. He had struck new terror
into the hearts of the Damarans and had eliminated most of the cattle ranches and herds in the kingdom, but
the latter proved quickly to be a battle won without gain. Furthermore, the Wolf Winter had earned Zhengyi the
wrath of Orcus, although none have told the tale of the price the lich may have paid for the demon god's anger.
Whatever the case may be, the bloody snows of Damara's north had not yet melted when it had become fully
clear to Zhengyi that there would be no more Wolf Winters in Damara, nor would dire wolves ravage the land
again. Zhengyi had become so tightly bound to Orcus and entwined in the demon god's fate that he no longer
had his own destiny in his hands.
The only goal for which the Witch King could afford to strive after the Wolf Winter was the bringing of Orcus into
the Realms. To do that, he would have to sacrifice many living mortals at the pool of mercury in the great
Bloodstone Temple, making of undead them, in order to make the breach in Ao's barrier wider and wider.
Instead - from Orcus' point of view - Zhengyi had foolishly slain thousands who merely had died, of starvation or
to feed wolves, without contributing at all to the demon god's cause. And others were wasted with lycanthropy,
which was of no help to Orcus at all. Thus, the following winter, although naturally hard, as oft was the case in
Damara, took its natural course, without interference from Zhengyi.
Before the new winter came, however, Zhengyi would bring much more misery over Damara. Once the ways in
the Galenas were free enough of snow, thousands of monsters from his horde poured down from the mountains
with orders to bring slaves back to the new temple of Orcus in the former Bloodstone Mines.
The horde battled for and conquered Ironspur and Justin's Mine but circled around the highly fortified White
Retreat in the Stormhaven Hills, going on to conquer the five autonomous settlements of the Star of Infelice -
Rolene, Hinterford, Newbelle, Tokard and Thimble. The southern flank had overrun Merkurn as well but
stopped before reaching Kinnery, where it felt an awesome threat it did not challenge, one mounted by the
magic of the sage Mundelraun.
Another wave of the monster horde poured through Bloodstone Pass, burning several buildings in the Village of
Bloodstone, but rushing through the pas to occupy the triangle formed by the Galenas, the road to Goliad and
the river bank opposite of the village of Goliad.
By Eleint, the army of orcs, giants and goblins had depopulated Justin's Mine, Ironspur, the autonomous Star of
Infelice, Merkurn and all the rest of Damara between the southeastern flank of the East Galenas and Icelace
Lake north of Goliad and Kinnery. All of the mines northeast of Bloodstone Pass had fallen, and Zhengyi's army
of occupation was in complete possession of the North.
Despite these seeming victories, however, the Witch King Zhengyi had little to celebrate. Northern Damara and
the Eastern Galenas were completely under his control, but little had been done to further the entry of Orcus
into the Realms. The Damarans had been badly outnumbered, but they were a hard and determined foe, as
often is the case with men pressed to the wall. They fought to the death rather than submitting to enslavement
by Zhengyi's forces. From all the many battles, Zhengyi's monster horde succeeded in bringing less than 100
living victims the duergar temple's mercury pool.
Still worse for Zhengyi, the flank of his army in the Galenas southwest of Bloodstone Pass suffered heavy
losses. The mountains were filled with the corpses of giants, orcs and goblins who had been slaughtered in
their attempts to take highly fortified Darmshall and Hillsafar Hall.
Zhengyi's monsters did encircle both fortified settlements, but the humans and the dwarves had sufficient
provisions stored to bring them through several years of siege. Their fortifications and battle fury reduced the
enemy to piles of gore beneath their walls, and the remaining siege troops had been forced to keep a distant
from the walls to avoid being slain.
Most residents of Bloodstone Village had fled into caves in the foothills when the horde poured through
Bloodstone Pass, resulting in few losses. Zhengyi's army burned part of Bloodstone Village as it roared through
it, but the Waukeshire was left mostly untouched.
Unfortunately for Orcus but fortunately for the people of Bloodstone Pass, Zhengyi had given his monster
hordes orders that they could not interpret under the circumstances. No goat's head priests or other humans
accompanied the first attack wave. The giants and goblinkind had no one to clear their confusion, and thus,
they did nothing in certain respects.
Zhengyi had intended for his horde to capture the North, as it had done, but the host had been told to take as
many prisoners as possible and bring them to the pool of the temple in the former Bloodstone Mines. Only then
were the invaders to occupy the North. He also had ordered his host to take Kinnery, Goliad, Kinbrace and
Steppenhall, but the magic of Mundelraun that the horde's commanders had sensed in Kinnery destroyed their
moral. They were unwilling to drive their troops further, sparing not only Kinnery but also Goliad, Kinbrace and
Steppenhall from being overrun.
The Witch King had assumed that his army would engage the Damarans in battle, and at some point, there
would be a surrender, prisoners would be taken and these would be led to the pool, to serve Orcus. After the
battle had ended, the remaining Damarans would be forced to submit themselves to Zhengyi, paying him a
substantial annual tribute.
After returning with his folk from the foothills, Baron Tranth of Bloodstone was confronted by captains of the
monster horde who were encamped on the plain north of Goliad. They presented their demands for tribute, and
the baron reluctantly agreed to their terms. The villages were badly outnumbered. Tranth thought that an
acceptance of the victors' term was the only hope that Bloodstone Pass would have for a chance to fight on
another day when the odds might be more in its favor.
Thus, Zhengyi's monster horde felt it had fulfilled its mission as far as Bloodstone Village was concerned. It left
Baron Tranth and his folk untroubled, as long as tribute was paid. The rulers of Goliad and Kinbrace came to
similar terms with the captains of the giants and orcs, and they too paid their tributes and were left in relative
peace. As a result, Zhengyi's victory produced several peasants' fortunes for him, which were worthless to the
lich, and no prisoners for the mercury pool of Orcus.
1350-56 DR - From the Year of the Morningstar

to the Year of the Worm
Zhengyi's hordes occupied the north of Damara. The Bloodstone Mines were closed. No other mines were
producing bloodstone; they either had been taken by the enemy or they were besieged. Folk of other lands
began to claim there was a curse upon the speckled chalcedony after hearing it had come from mines where
demons had entered and, in their minds, perhaps always had been. Even the market for the large retail
reserves of bloodstone in Heliogabalus went without customers.
Outside of the North, the capital city was hardest hit of all. Heliogabalus was a city of wheelers and dealers; it
produced little but balance sheets, cash flow and profits. When the bloodstone market collapsed, cash stopped
flowing, profits vanished and balance sheets were being written in red ink. Some heretofore rich men of the
capital committed suicide. Many more fled with their families to Impiltur or the Vast, to be followed soon by
shopkeepers. Once luxurious streets began to look like they were in a ghost town.
The situation was less serious in the rural areas of the South, where farms had recuperated from the Wolf
Winter and still could enjoy normal levels of production. For Shandaril and the Iron Throne, the situation had
the potential of being positive, but only if Zhengyi could be overthrown eventually. At such a time, Heliogabalus
would be ripe for the Throne to move in and take over.
In the following years, Shandaril did what she could to assure Zhengyi's fall, and, with help from the churches of
the deities planning Ao's downfall, Zhengyi gained new allies. The church of Bane, exercising its power among
the Zhentilar, hunted many of the bandit bands in the Moonsea region, harrying them and driving them
constantly eastward, over Thar, up Garumn's Climb and down Dead Man's Walk, right into Zhengyi's lap.
Although it was well hidden and virtually unknown, the monks of Bhaal long had maintained a Citadel of
Assassins in the East Galenas that had performed contracts quietly for customers, mainly in the Moonsea
Region, Impiltur and the northern Vast. The citadel housed a strange collection of murderers - monks and
priests of Bhaal, renegade mages, bloodthirsty warriors, rogues and professional assassins, all of the led by an
ancient monk of Bhaal who none knew by a name other than Grandfather of Assassins.
As the fateful Year of Shadows (1358 DR) drew nearer, it appeared clear the conspiratorial gods - Bane, Myrkul
and Bhaal - were working together to bring Orcus into the Realms. In the Year of the Morningstar, Zhengyi had
lost the advantages of surprised and an unprepared army.
Before Zhengyi's rise to power, the High Malagent Rigdra Darnasch of Talona also had restored a hidden
temple to Talona in ancient ruins at the foot of the Great Glacier Pelvuria north of Palishchuk. In the Year of the
Dragon (1352 DR), the Talontar temple allied with Zhengyi and began brewing the poisons employed by the
Citadel of Assassins.
The Taluth Toksla Illu gnûzh Moertkar, which Zhengyi was unable to use, and the Wards of Orcus were among
the rewards that Zhengyi gave to Darnasch. He also gave her the Libram of Rågzh Dúrkhuh, with which she
learned to decipher the glyphs that appear within the Taluth Toksla Illu gnûzh Moertkar. (Darnasch and these
magical items are described in the Northern Journey Campaign Guide, Version 6 or higher)
In the Year of the Morningstar, the bloodstone market already clearly was dead in Damara, there still were
some purchases being made for their treasuries by Cormyr and Sembia, although that amounted only to a
trickle of the previous bloodstone trade. Zhentil Keep and the Moonsea cities also had relied strongly upon
bloodstone for their treasury reserves, but with Zhengyi controlling Dead Man's Walk, they were cut off from the
commodity.
King Virdin was using the profits from these sales and tapping the still substantial royal treasury in Heliogabalus
to hire outside magi, priests and mercenaries from outside areas and to main the now fully battle ready and fit
Damaran army.
Zhengyi knew the next move he would have to make, to overrun and conquer Damara to the point where he
could properly take the slaves he needed, would require a massive invasion. From the Year of the Morningstar
until the Year of the Harp, he and his goat's head priests concentrated upon that task.
In the Year of the Crown (1351 DR), Zhengyi sent all of the Moonsea bandits along with his key wizard aide
Knellict, his high priest Banak and four other goat's head priests to the Citadel of the Assassins, hidden high in
the Galenas between Bloodstone Pass and Ironspur. Knellict and Banak brought a message with Zhengyi's
wishes to the Grandfather of Assassins.
They said the Witch King intended to send the bandits into northern Damara, to take command of the somewhat
disorganized army of giants and goblinkind station there. It was his wish that the Grandfather of Assassins take
full command over the Damaran wing of Zhengyi's force, working through the bandit commanders.
The Grandfather of Assassins agreed to this. From this time on, the citadel was served not only by Bhaal's
monks and clergy but also by the wizard Knellict, the highest priest of Orcus and several of his lieutenants, all
stationed in the citadel as representatives of the Witch King.
Thus, the six years from the Year of the Morningstar until the Year of the Harp, although hardly a time of peace,
was at least a period of less war for the Damarans.
During these years Shandaril set about learning how she might stop Zhengyi, when the time came for that to be
necessary. Her key source of knowledge was Mundelraun in Kinnery. Shandaril thought it odd that Kinnery
had been left unscathed by Zhengyi, but this was not among the main riddles the wizardess wished to solve, so
she gave it little more thought.
During her meetings with Mundelraun, Shandaril's substantial bought her much knowledge of the history of the
Imaskari Raurin Empire, general historical information on the Imaskari rebels in the North and many items of
respectable Imaskari magic. But she could not bring Mundelraun to sell her information showing her the exact
location of Imaskari rebel ruins.
Without gaining mighty and undetectable magic, Shandaril believed her battle against Zhengyi would end before
it began. Nothing Mundelraun had sold her was adequate for her to deal with the Witch King. And she did not
know where to search for more on her own.
She considered slaying Mundelraun and then simply absconding with all he had left behind. After all, many
other magi, some of greater level than she, had forfeited their lives to her, simply because she was the wilier.
With time, however, Shandaril gained some of the wisdom that was lacking in her youth. She believed that she
more likely would be the victim of a murder attempt on her part rather than Mundelraun.
Too many pieces of the sage's puzzle were hidden from her. Mundelraun appeared to stay in his tower with no
substantial protection from attackers, swindlers and double dealers. As far as Shandaril could determine,
Mundelraun would be a pushover to liquidate, and she doubted very much that her perception in the case was
truthful or reliable.
Mundelraun was a sage famous and expensive. Were he the pushover he seemed to be, he would have gone
to his grave much sooner. Instead, he dealt with Shandaril as though he were beyond all harm, and she tended
to believe that was basically true, even though she had no idea what the source or nature of this protection
might be, Things were to uncertain for her.
However, Shandaril did learn to learn something of Mundelraun's character. She slowly understood that
Mundelraun has little interest for magic of power. He is drawn by the new in magic, the mysterious, that with
which he has not yet been confronted. And Shandaril learned too that Mundelraun was extremely interested in
the magic of Kara-Tur, although he then had little experience with the arcane of the Far East.
The Iron Throne, on the other hand, already has sent many caravans to Shou Lung, and these have brought
back several interesting magical items of designs little known in the West. With this knowledge and the help of
the Throne's magic from the East, Shandaril finally was able to seal the bargain she'd been striving for.
She paid Mundelraun with several items from Shou Lung that were of less value than Mundelraun could have
become. In return, he sold Shandaril maps showing her how to reach the ruins of Severny Tajemstvi - Northern
Arcanum, in the Novularond range of Pelvuria. Mundelraun also gave Shandaril his word that he would not
enter Severny Tajemstvi but rather view it as her domain alone.
Nothing, perhaps, shows the differences in the two business partners as this deal. Shandaril had been willing to
pay Mundelraun with magical treasures of great power from the West, but instead he preferred medium level
items from Shou Lung that offered him mysteries to unravel. Mundelraun already had been to Severny
Tajemstvi, and he had indeed found works of Imaskari magic there, but he left them behind. The Northern
Arcanum had devoted itself to the destructive magic of war, where Mundelraun sought only magic that would
expand the horizons of his own knowledge.
Shandaril went to Severny Tajemstvi in the Year of the Harp (1355 DR) and did not return until late in the Year
of the Worm (1356 DR). The ancient Imaskari rebel settlement was a gold mine of magic beyond her wildest
dreams. In her isolated studies in the old Northern Arcanum - where nothing came to disturb her work,
ascended rapidly through the higher steps as a wizardess, attaining epic level before her departure late in the
year.
In Severny Tajemstvi, Shandaril also found the great artifact the Imaskari rebels called the Tower of
Feeblemindedness, and she believed she understood how to use it, although she would not do so without
trepidation. It was clear to her that a mistake could mean her own destruction.
However, there were some things about the artifact that she did not know, because the Imaskari rebel wizards
who made the tower did not document them before being suddenly slain by the brown plague from the South.
The most important of these things was the fact that the Tower of Feeblemindedness had not yet been
completed; it was imperfect. It was flawed. The lack of this knowledge nearly destroyed Shandaril, but that is a
part of a tale yet to come.
As Nightal began drawing its late afternoon shade over the Cold Lands, the various fixtures and figures within
them all were waiting, their arrows nocked, for the new year to come. Zhengyi had trained his host of giants
and goblinkind in the north for a mass invasion of Damara. King Virdin's Royal Damaran Army was fully trained
and fit again, encamped in Heliogabalus before the march northward, to drive Zhengyi out of Damara.
The Grandfather of Assassins and his followers were poised to destroy the Damaran nobility and send the
enemy kingdom into absolute chaos. And Shandaril was prepared to use the Tower of Feeblemindedness, if
necessary. to stop Zhengyi and preserve enough of Damara for her Iron Throne to profit from it after Zhengyi's
fall. It was a tense and cold winter.
1357 DR - Year of the Prince

Spies - most of them veteran rangers - risked their lives in the Galenas to bring King Virdin in Heliogabalus word
of what was brewing in Vaasa. A small contingent of giants and goblinkind - perhaps 10,000 - were encamped
along Dead Man's Walk north of Bloodstone Pass, but another 100,000 were concentrated in a series of camps
in the Eastern Galenas beginning above the closed Bloodstone Mines.
The king ordered the evacuation of Bloodstone Pass and sent 3,000 of his own warriors into the pass. The
troop had to fight its way into Bloodstone Pass, battling several units of giants and goblinkind that were
stationed northwest of Goliad. However, the unit being sent to Bloodstone included many of the Damaran
army's best archers. The Damaran troops reached their goal with relatively few losses.
Following the king's orders, the Damaran soldiers took up covered positions in the foothills above the narrow
Vaasan entryway into Bloodstone Valley. King Virdin concluded correctly that Zhengyi's troop of giants and
goblinkind would sustain severe losses when attacked by the archers.
The Vaasan troops poured out of the mountains onto the Plain of Goliad and into Bloodstone Valley at the
beginning of Kythorn, but his host did not gain the rapid defeat Zhengyi had expected. Of the giants and
goblinkind above Bloodstone Valley, only 2,000 or so broke through the rain of Damaran arrows to reach the
Plain of Goliad. The remaining 8,000 lay dead on the Beaumaris Road.
The two hosts met at the Ford of Goliad, but at that point, they reached a stalemate that lasted until early
Flamerule, when treachery won the day. That tale begins with King Virdin's most valuable war advisor, a native
of Heliogabalus named Felix.
Although Felix held the king's absolute trust, he hardly had earned it. He was a ruthless, self-serving man who
spent most of his time in the king's service as a paid agent of the Damaran Merchants League. In his double
role, Felix did indeed serve the king well for many years when the prosperity of the merchants league was
tantamount to the prosperity of the kingdom and vice versa. The advice Virdin received from Felix was in truth
the advice of the league masters, and it was of value to king and kingdom.
However, after the loss of the Bloodstone Mines, the league had fallen into chaos. Some of its members had
fled to more prosperous places, while many others who remained had committed suicide or were on the verge
of bankruptcy. The substantial secret payments Felix had been receiving for his covert service stopped, and
Felix was displeased. He was open to offers from a new master, although he little expected to receive one, in
view of the kingdom's dismal state.
To his surprise, in late Mirtul, Felix was visited by an agent of the Citadel of Assassins, offering not only lucrative
payment but also a high position within the citadel after Virdin's defeat. Felix accepted. Other members of the
citadel then planted a worthless stick enchanted with illusory spells and documents telling the tale of the so-
called Wand of the Waters. Both were placed where the king's magi were sure to find them.
King Virdin was a reasonable and wise man. He was no mage, and he trusted little in the work of magic. After
a month of stalemate at the Ford of Goliad, King Virdin finally agreed to use the so-called Wand of the Waters,
which allegedly would have opened a passage in the Goliad for his troops to reach the other side. He and Felix
rode to the rear, atop a small hill above the ford. The king activated the wand and ordered his troops to cross.
At the same time, Felix triggered a magic signal alerting the assassin commanders that the king had acted.
The foe waited until the entire ford was filled with Damaran troops who thought they could not be seen.
Zhengyi's army then attacked mercilessly, aided by three white dragons from Pelvuria who had been
commanded by Kargmelchina-Tiamat to aid Zhengyi. They had landed in the Galenas unseen in the night.
Most of the Damaran soldiers who were in the ford were slain or captured. Those still on the opposite bank fled
in all directions in chaos after seeing the fall of their comrades and the white dragons zeroing in on them. A
grieving King Virdin looked down is shock upon what was happening to his army, until Felix' knife in his back
ended his life.
Zhengyi had waited long for this day, and he and the Grandfather of Assassins already had their next move
prepared. Almost all of the citadel's assassins had infiltrated Damara - primarily in Heliogabalus, Ostel, Morov,
Carmathan and Polten. The House Horgath in Arcata already was secretly in league with the Grandfather of
Assassins, and the family line of Brandebury in Brandiar had died out. Baron Tranth of Bloodstone and his
daughter were in hiding in Heliogabalus. Soravia was completely occupied by Zhengyi's host.
The assassins were waiting for the signal of victory in Goliad. When it came, they went about their work,
eliminating all of the royal family in Heliogabalus, all of the baronial house Praka in Ostel, most of the baronial
house Bancath in Morov with the exception of Dimian and Tarkos Ree, the duke of Carmathan and 50 other
members of the ducal house Devlin and most of the baronial house BelMaris in Polten.
The operation was an overwhelming success for Zhengyi and the Grandfather of Assassins, but the price was
high. Only about 20 assassins made it back to the citadel alive. The rest paid for their deeds with their own
lives before they could escape
With this blow, the Kingdom of Damara simply crumbled. Most of the surviving soldiers who were not captured
while fleeing the white dragons and the Vaasan host found their way back to their home bases. Those who
were taken alive lived only briefly. They were marched to the mercury pool to be transformed into undead
skeletons. Although it was no help to Orcus in his attempts to enter the Realms, the goats head priests of the
Citadel of Assassins worked the battlefield afterward, raising fallen of both sides as zombies, to bolster their
own troops. Zhengyi had given the Grandfather of Assassins control over the Eastern Galenas, Brandiar and
Soravia, and he also had the right to collect tribute in all of Damara.
Most of those Damaran soldiers who reached their home bases no longer knew whom they served. The capital
no longer had a king. The duke of Carmathan and the barons of Ostel, Morov and Polten were dead. Anarchy
reigned briefly. Most of the survivors remained where they had been stationed, ready to serve whichever new
leader would arise. Others broke of into renegade bands, some to make attacks on Zhengyi's hosts or those
who supported Zhengyi. Others began robbing their own folk.
However, Zhengyi's troops did not roll over the rest of Damara. Instead, the Grandfather of Assassins sent
messengers into the land, to declare the Witch King's terms. All of the duchies and baronies were to pay hard
tribute to the Citadel of the Assassins, if they wish to avoid further warfare, and they would be ruled by new
dukes and barons who met with Zhengyi's approval. The nobility after the defeat of Goliad were:
• Duchy of Arcata - Duke William of the family Horgath remained upon his seat. He already had been in
league with Zhengyi before the defeat.
• Barony of Bloodstone - Zhengyi ignored Bloodstone. Baron Tranth was in hiding and most of the
population had fled. Tranth and his daughter, Christine, were two of the last three surviving bloodline
relatives of King Virdin.
• Duchy of Brandiar - The duchy was totally occupied by Zhengyi's host. Only military commanders ruled.
• Duchy of Carmathan - A man claiming the name Dashard Devlin, who said he was the fourth cousin of
slain Duke Helmont XIII, was seated by Zhengyi as Duke Helmont XIV.
• Barony of Morov - Dimian Ree, one of the three last bloodline relatives of the slain king and a man ready
to compromise with Zhengyi, was named the new baron.
• Barony of Ostel - A wizardess in Zhengyi's service known only as Sylvia was appointed baroness of
Ostel. It was rumored that she was a former member of the Red Wizards of Thay, and there also are
rumors that she was a descendant of Zhengyi.
• Barony of Polten - An imposer claiming to be a cousin of slain Baron Donlevy was seated as the new
baron.
• Duchy of Soravia - The small barony was enlarged into a duchy by Zhengyi. One of his own followers
named Ygor was appointed first duke.
1358 DR - Year of Shadows

The Damarans were a proud race. They did not bear the yoke of Zhengyi's serfdom willingly. The seeds of
revolution germinated. And they were helped by an event that no one could foresee, an event that ravaged
4,000 years of planning for Zhengyi, Grafvitnir and others. Bane, Myrkul and Bhaal continued with their plot and
stole the tablets of fate their master Ao had made for the gods, and as a reaction, the gods were thrown by Ao
from their homes in the planes onto Faerûn, to exist as their own avatars.
In that fateful year, the goddess Mystra was destroyed by the god Helm, and chaos began to eat away at the
Weave of magic around Abeir-Toril. Zhengyi was a lich of supra-genius intelligence, and his power and empire
had been built upon the magic of the Weave and the power of Orcus.
The chaos ravaging the weave struck at Zhengyi's magical essence and turned the Witch King from a master of
strategy into a wildly insane lich lord. His monster horde began working at cross purposes. And his eye no
longer was upon Damara, although the Grandfather of Assassins still watched it closely.
One of the few people who knew at this time where Baron Tranth of Bloodstone and his daughter Christine were
hidden was Sir Gareth Dragonsbane, who had served as a brigade commander in the Damaran army until its
collapse after the Battle of Goliad. Dragonsbane, a paladin of Ilmater, had been inclined all of his life toward
depressions. The slaying of the king had made him despondent.
While he was in that state of mind, Baron Tranth, against the paladin's will, said he had decided to return with
those of his land who would go with him to Bloodstone Village. His daughter Christine, a druidess, assisted
upon accompanying her father. Dragonsbane insisted that several fellow paladin members of the Order of the
Golden Cup, to which he also belonged, join him is escorting the baron back home and to protect him once he
arrived there.
The baron appeared in public in Heliogabalus in Tarsakh and appealed to all refugees from Bloodstone Pass to
march him with him when he would make his journey in late Mirtul. Dragonsbane remained firmly against the
baron leaving the safety of his hideout. If the Kingdom of Damara were to be restored, there were only three
possible successors of the Bloodfeathers line: the baron, his daughter and the crooked Baron of Morov Dimian
Ree.
Dragonsbane took it as something of a positive sign that no assassination attempts were made on Tranth after
his public appearances in Heliogabalus, but he feared that his own days as well of the baron, his daughter and
the other paladins would be numbered once the returned to Bloodstone Valley, which was shadowed by the
hand of the Grandfather of Assassins.
To Dragonsbane's surprise, nearly 10,000 men, women and children had answered the baron's call. To the
best of his ability, Dragonsbane armed and horsed them with reserve weapons and steeds that had belonged to
fallen Damaran soldiers.
The Bloodstone host reached Goliad with little trouble, but many more troops that Dragonsbane blocked their
way on the Brandiar side. A bandit lieutenant in the assassins' service rode to the middle of the ford, to ask
what the host's intentions were.
Tranth identified himself and said his intention was to return with his folk to their homes in Bloodstone Pass.
The bandit scrutinized the group, nodded briefly and said the host could pass. But he added that Tranth must
pay tribute, just as all other Damaran provincial rulers were required to do.
The Dark Host made way and allowed Tranth's to pass on without further incident. The band also was
pleasantly surprised to find that relatively little had been damaged by the enemy in the pass. By early
Flamerule, most damages had been patched up.
It was no turn of kindness that allowed Tranth and his folk to return or that spared Tranth and his daughter from
being slain, as earlier nobles had been. The liquidation of Damara's ruling bloodlines had been Zhengyi's
fervent goal. The Grandfather of Assassins held little of the idea. He believed most Damaran nobles could
have been intimidated, as had been the case with Duke William of Arcata and now was the case with Baron
Tranth.
The Grandfather of Assassins worried little these days about Zhengyi, who appeared to have locked himself
within Castle Perilous to do little but rave madly. The magical Weave had weakened Knellict and the
Grandfather's other mages. Banak and the other goat's head priests no longer received spells from Orcus. But
the Citadel of Assassins still had the Eastern Galenas and all of Damara firmly in its grip.
Neither Baron Tranth nor any other survivor of the royal Damaran bloodline posed a serious threat, the
Grandfather of Assassins believed. The great threat he needed to conquer came from nature itself: Starvation.
The Grandfather commanded a large host in Brandiar and Soravia, but after Zhengyi's ravaging, and the slaying
and exodus of most people in northern Damara, no one had planted.
The host of the Grandfather of Assassins would simply die without food, and there was no food at present, nor
was there any within raiding distance. Thus, in the Citadel of Assassins, one looked upon the return of Baron
Tranth and his folk with relief, for Bloodstone Pass remained fertile. The assassins and their bandits knew that
the people of Bloodstone would find little gold with which to pay tribute. Thus, they demanded payments in
crops instead.
After seeing that the baron was in no imminent danger, the depressed Sir Gareth Dragonsbane took his leave
from Bloodstone Village, to travel alone to the Monastery of the Yellow Rose high in the Galenas near the
Glacier of the White Worm. The paladin explained that with the fall of the kingdom, he had lost both his purpose
and his focus. He hoped to gain counsel in the Ilmatari monastery to restore both. In mid-Flamerule, Sir Gareth
left Bloodstone Village, and he did not return there again that year.
Before the year was out, many other events were in motion. The Grandfather of Assassins had an enlarged
army at his disposal, with the host of undead that had been created after the Battle of Goliad. The fallen from
the battle had been made into zombies, while the war prisoners had been forced into the mercury pool of the
temple, to arise from it again as powerful mercury skeletons.
It should be mention that this term was used only among the higher level members of the citadel and the goat's
head priests. The bandits, giants and goblinkind of the assassins' army as well as the Damarans simply called
them silver skeletons.
The skeletons animated by the pool had their bones coated in the thin silvery sheen of a mercury ally. The
undead themselves were noticeably more powerful than normally animated skeletons. A small amount of the
power of Orcus burned in them, seen in a feel purple glowing from deep within the skeletons' eye sockets.
However, when Ao threw the Faerûnian gods from the heavens, there were two immediate setbacks for the
assassins, as far as the undead of the pool were concerned. The mercury skeletons retained their silvery
sheen, but the purple flame of Orcus stopped burning within them, and their power diminished to that of
ordinarily animated skeletons. In addition, the mercury pool had ceased to work.
These things did not surprise the Grandfather of Assassins. He had little respect for works of magic. At the
same time, without weapons, the weakened skeletons could quickly be beaten into piles of broken bones.
Should the need arise for them to fight, the Grandfather too thought the skeletons would serve him best, if they
were armed.
He ordered his underlings to send smiths among the giants and orcs into human iron mines that had been
closed. They brought iron ore and re-fired the cooled forges of humans who had been driven from them. Then,
they set about making crude swords to arm the skeletons. A true warrior would shrink from fighting with such a
poor weapon, but the Grandfather thought such swords would increase the damage the skeletons could do, and
they probably would last at least as long as the skeletons himself.
Meanwhile, the people of Bloodstone Village toiled hard, yoked with the burden of heavy tribute, and yet, their
lot may have been no worse than that of many other Damarans since the defeat at Goliad.
In Castle Perilous in Vaasa, Zhengyi the Witch King indeed was raving insanely. The Time of Troubles had
completely severed his access to Orcus, and his magic had backfired to the point where he seldom dared to
use it. During his binding to Orcus, a part of Zhengyi's own being had been permanently bound to the demon
god, the two of them forever inseparable, and despite that, they now were separated.
Zhengyi was not complete. A genuine part of the lich no longer was there. His madness came above all
through the Witch King's knowledge that his own existence slowly was fading from the material plane. He was
terrified to realize that if the bond to Orcus could not be renewed, he slowly would cease to exist.
The Grandfather of Assassins still had the host in the Eastern Galenas and Damara under control, but there
was no more communication between Zhengyi and his host in Vaasa and the Western Galenas. The various
factions in his Vaasan army began to fight among themselves again.
In early summer, the warriors of Hillsafar Hall and Darmshall noted the disarray within the orc and giant forces
besieging them. Both fortresses sounded the call to battle and with little effort, broke the siege and liquidated
the giants and goblinkind who had encircled them.
Later in this Year of the Shadows - unknown to Zhengyi - an evil rogue, a wizardess of true heart, the god Helm
and the overgod Ao came together high atop Mt. Waterdeep, thousands of miles/kilometers to the West. Ao
made the two mortals into gods and reopened the planes to the other gods. The wizardess of true heart had
become the new Mystra, and she slowly succeeded in bringing much of the weave under control again.
The weave had been restored, and Zhengyi regained a part of his sanity, but his empire was in a strategic state
of ruin, and much of the magical damage that had been done to Zhengyi's spirit remained. In addition, Orcus
had returned and was screaming louder than ever for bodies. With Bane, Bhaal and Myrkul dead, he now could
enter the Realms free of the bindings he had agreed to with Myrkul.
However, Zhengyi no longer had the brilliant plans he once commanded to fulfill Orcus' goals. His mind was
confused, and he needed more time to think out his action, regardless of how loud the demon god screamed in
his head. The witch king no longer possessed that strategic genius that had brought him so high, and thus
began his decline and fall.
As this year wore on, Sir Gareth Dragonsbane had succeeded in fighting his way to the Monastery of the Yellow
Rose, where he received the help he had sought. There too he encountered an old friend of his, once known as
the Sembian sword master Hannibal Kane.
Both were devout Ilmatari who had set out on the path to become paladins of the crying god. Dragonsbane
remained on that path, but Kane had left it to become one of the fighting monks who protected the Ilmatari
Monastery of the Yellow Rose. In doing so, he left behind both his sword and his own first name. Among the
Ilmatari, he was known only as Brother Kane. And the only weapon he used was his own body, which had
become more deadly than many a master weapon of dwarven forges.
After consulting with him, the head of the monastery, the Grand Master of Flowers Cantoule, told the paladin
that he must free his mind to wander the Ilmatari path again. Brother Cantoule granted Kane indefinite leave
from the monastery, to help Dragonsbane back onto the Ilmatari path and to remain with him until he no longer
was needed, for the grand master believed an important doom was upon the paladin.
Together, the two traveled onto the Glacier of the White Worm ands succeeded in the dangerous test of riding
the Remorhaz. And then they descended the mountains into Impiltur, to meet with the Ilmatari paladins who
ruled that kingdom, to seek their advice on how to deal with their enemy.
It was at that time that Sir Gareth Dragonsbane formed his deep friendship with another Ilmatari paladin,
Haelimbrar, the war captain general and Lord of Imphras II who ruled over western Impiltur and commanded the
Sword of Impiltur in Vordric-Dun.
Impiltur, for reasons it now regrets, had decided not to intervene in Damara in its war with Zhengyi. But War
Captain Regent Kyrlraun of Lyrabar already was beginning to see the error in his judgment by the time Sir
Gareth and Brother Kane had spoken with him. After being pressed, Kyrlraun gave Haelimbrar a leave of
absence from his command and the right to assemble up to 200 members of the Sword of Impiltur and five magi
to filter into Damara the following year, without uniforms and without official orders from the queen, to meet Sir
Gareth and aid him in his war.
Shandaril, too, was busy during this Year of the Serpent. Things had reached the stage where Zhengyi had
made Damara ripe for the Iron Throne to make its moves, but the time was near to destroy both the Witch King
and the Citadel of the Assassins, or too little would be left of the kingdom to make the Throne's work worthwhile.
Because her other work had been disrupted by the chaos in the Weave, Shandaril devoted herself almost
completely to her study of The Tower of Feeblemindedness. She noted gratefully that the disruption in the
Weave seemed to have no effect upon the artifact.
Thus, Damara saw little of battle in the restless peace of the Year of Shadows, but all factions expected the new
year to be explosive.
1359 DR - Year of the Serpent

The story of the Year of the Serpent is offered here in great detail, because this was the pivotal year in the
modern history of the Bloodstone Kingdom, the one in which the switches were set that formed modern Damara
and Vaasa. In this year, the Damarans began to rise up against the oppression of Zhengyi the Witch King and
the Grandfather of Assassins.
There really were five parties to the contests for power that raged through most of this year:
• Sir Gareth Dragonsbane and the people of Bloodstone Pass, who wanted to bring their own fates back
into their own hands.
• Zhengyi, the lich Witch King of Vaasa, who wanted to keep the Cold Lands under his thumb and that of
his demon god master.
• Orcus, the demon god of the dead in the Abyss, who wanted Zhengyi to open a gate through which he
could enter the Realms.
• The Grandfather of Assassins, who waited for Zhengyi to destroy himself so that he could take his place.
• Shandaril, the epic archwizardess of the Iron Throne in Heliogabalus, who worked in the shadows,
unknown to the others, to place the ruins the others creating in the hands of the Throne, which was
waiting to rebuild Damara in its own image and likeness.
Before the year ended, the Grandfather of Assassins had lost his life and Zhengyi his unlife. Orcus was
destroyed, although not quite for the last time, but he never again would threaten Faerûn. Shandaril had been
reduced to the state of a babbling idiot, although she would again rise from this ebb in her life's tide like the
proverbial Phoenix from the Ashes. Sir Gareth Dragonsbane stood above their ruins and thought he might be
the winner, but he wasn't sure. His uncertainty continues today.
NOTE: This narrative adds extensive unofficial details to the descriptions in official TSR
publications of the things that occurred in Damara and Vaasa in the Year of the Serpent. The
events chronicled here generally correspond to those described in the H-Series of modules and in
FR9 The Bloodstone Lands.
The sequence of events is that originally described in the H-Series of modules. That sequence
was changed by R.A. Salvatore in FR9. In this narration, the high priest of Orcus, Banak, is slain
by the Bloodstone forces, as described on Page 7 of H2 The Mines of Bloodstone. In H2 (Page
13), Banak returns again briefly as a ghost in the centaur village of Guard.
We have not included the centaur settlement in this accessory; therefore, the ghost sequence is
eliminated as well. In FR9, the slaying of Banak and the ghost sequence both were ignored, and
the epic level goat's head priest continues to be alive after Zhengyi's fall.
FR9 was current through the Year of the Serpent. It is the last TSR/WotC product that mentions
Banak. He was a level 23 cleric in H1, but he was reduced without explanation to level 18 in FR9.
His mage counterpart Knellict also vanished from official literature over the Cold Lands and the
Bloodstone Lands after FR9, but he made a surprising encore recently as a member of another
Citadel of Assassins plaguing Damara in the 3rd Edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. He
was an 18th level mage in the H-Series, was elevated to the 21st level in FR9 and then converted
into a 22nd epic level character with mage level 18 and assassin level 4 in the FRCS. Knellict still
exists in this Northern Journey Bloodstone accessory, but he meets a fate other than that
described in the FRCS.
As the icy winter of Nightal in the Year of Shadows came over Impiltur, Sir Gareth Dragonsbane and Brother
Kane prepared to begin their journey homeward. In the harbor and finance city of Hlammach, the pair met two
other old friends of Kane, the half elves Celedon Kierney and Riordan Parnell, whom Kane first came to know in
his pre-monastic days in Sembia.
Kierney and Parnell both were something of good natured ne'er-do-well types. Kierney was an epic level thief
with modest abilities as a sorcerer, while his cousin was an epic level bard known throughout the Heartlands of
the West. Both were natives of the western Dalelands of mixed parentage, part human Dalesmen and part
elven lineage from the old Elven Court of Cormanthor.
It was rumored that they left the Dalelands after being sought by authorities there for questioning on some
maters that were questionable, and that they also left Sembia after being sought for questioning on equally
questionable matters. At the time they met with Dragonsbane and Kane, Impilturian authorities apparently still
were formulating their questions. The cousins managed to leave the kingdom of Imphras without trouble.
On their ride northward, they assured a skeptical Sir Gareth and a grinning Brother Kane several times that they
were going to Damara because they wanted to help in the fight against Zhengyi and the Citadel of Assassins,
not because they were on the lam.
The odd quartet reached the Damaran capital without incident. There, Sir Gareth went to meet with one of his
teachers, Reverend Father of the House Dugald, the high priest of the Sanctuary of the Blood-Red Tears, the
temple to Ilmater in Heliogabalus. Dugald, an epic level priest of Ilmater, seldom was called by his formal title.
In his earlier year as a priest who trained young clerics, monks and paladins, he was called Friar Dugald, a
nickname that stuck and that pleased Dugald himself better than the formal title.
In a tavern in the capital that Sir Gareth doubted was a proper place for Ilmatari to meet, Friar Dugald enjoyed a
huge dinner and impressive amounts of Easting Reach wine, as he listened to Sir Gareth's plans to move
against the Witch King. Celedon Kierney and Riordan Parnell came close to matching the rounded priest's pace
at the table, but Sir Gareth and Brother Kane ate only modestly. The paladin and the monk each drank but a
single glass of wine.
Sir Gareth had come to Heliogabalus to ask Friar Dugald to provide a few of his younger priests to serve the
Bloodstone Army the paladin wished to build. Friar Dugald frowned at this proposal, saying that Damara was in
dire straits. Much of the refugee population had settled around Lake Mogador, and the population of the lake
settlements was in dire need of the services of the Ilmatari. He was not certain he could spare more than one
priest. The friar said he wished to pray to Ilmater for guidance. He would give his answer on the following day.
Priests of Ilmater usually are not combatants. But a Painbearer can make a prayerful plea to the Crying God to
be granted what the church calls a Rest. (For more details, see the entry for Ilmater in Faiths & Avatars by Julia
Martin with Eric L. Boyd, TSR 1996, available as an ESD download.)
When Sir Gareth returned to the temple, Friar Dugald awaited him in his travel gear, mace of disruption and
cudgel strapped to his back. He said he had indeed prayed to Ilmater during the night, and he had been
granted an exceptional Rest rather than the normal 10-day period. The priest said that Ilmater had granted him
an extended Rest for the duration of the war. He also mumbled something about being chided about setting a
bad example for young painbearers. And he said that he himself was the only priest he could spare.
The growing fellowship, now numbering five, continued on to Bloodstone Village but by a roundabout way. Sir
Gareth did not want the troops of the Citadel of Assassins who patrolled the road between Goliad and
Bloodstone Pass to be aware of his return. Instead, the fellowship detoured southward to Praka in Ostel and
westward to and then northward to Ostrav, both in Arcata, to Bloodstone Pass.
Sir Gareth chose this route because there had been no troops from Arcata or Ostel in his military command. He
thought he could travel through these lands unrecognized. The five traveled plainly dressed without badge or
symbol of position or honor. Even Sir Gareth rode without his heavy armor, which was stored in a pack wagon.
He wore only simple chain mail.
Nonetheless, the roundabout journey went differently than Sir Gareth had hoped, due to the combined prankster
natures of Friar Dugald, Celedon Kierney and Riordan Parnell. In Ostel, the quintet of adventurers encountered
a band of corrupt soldiers who demanded a so-called customs tax from the travelers. Parnell replied indignantly
that the group was an inspection patrol from the Citadel of Assassins, and he warned the soldiers that if they
failed to show the proper respect immediately, they would be taken prisoner and "taken north!"
Although the soldiers were terrified enough to make it superfluous, Kierney and Friar Dugald also worked Fear
spells upon them. The soldiers rode away wildly, hoping to escape with their lives. Sir Gareth disapproved, but
the stunt served the riders well. The story of the five inspectors from the Citadel of Assassins traveled ahead of
them, and for the rest of their journey, would-be troublemakers made a wide berth for them.
As the five traveled northward, their foes were in action too. The Grandfather of Assassins had to reassess
many of his strategies. Although the strength of his citadel had grown through the alliance with bandits, it
traditionally had been a monastery of Bhaal, the god of murder. Bhaal was dead, and the Grandfather as well
as his monastic followers had lost all of the special powers their deity had granted to them, although they had
kept their physical combat abilities.
A new god, Cyric the Dark Sun, had claimed the portfolio of murder from Bhaal. The monks of the citadel had
been awaiting a signal from their leader, whether they would align themselves with this new deity or remain
independent. The Grandfather of Assassins had meditated on this point through much of the winter. At the end
of Ches, he made his decision known.
The Grandfather considered Cyric to be a revolting deity and no fit successor for Bhaal, who symbolized the
honor of the assassin's profession and the honor among assassins. He denounced Cyric as an insane trickster
and said he would pray daily that Faerûn's assassins one day would find a deity worthy of their worship. There
is no evidence to support it, but in days to come, some of his followers would claim that Cyric took his revenge
against the Grandfather and lent strength to his foes, leading to the Grandfather's fall.
In the Bloodstone Mines which were commanded by demons and overrun by duergar, a semblance of order had
been restored within a continuing overall chaos. During the Time of Troubles, the duergar goat's head priests,
like all others, had lost their divine powers and received no new spells from Orcus. The demons too were in
something of a chaotic frenzy, because the freezing of the Weave had left them stranded, totally cut off from
their home in the Abyss.
Quarrels broke out among the demons, with some of them arguing that they must wait and carry out their
orders, until the rent in the Weave had been repaired, while others believed that they were forever stranded.
These argued that the band should begin conquering the world outside of the mines, most of them having no
idea how large that world was or how ill equipped the demon band was to take it. They contended that the
material plane was their new permanent home, and they should bring it quickly under their own control.
Before the Time of Troubles, the breach in Ao's barrier to Orcus had widened to the point where the demon god
soon would be able to enter Faerûn. When the thread to Orcus became lost, the breach began closing again.
Before the gods returned to their homes in the planes, the closure had become complete.
To the relief of the demons in the Bloodstone Mines, the breach began to reopen late in the Year of Shadows,
although it was not yet great enough to permit Orcus to pass into Faerûn despite Ao's ban. The demon lord too
regained his ability to look into the Realms. The uncertainty of the Time of Troubles combined with a growing
willingness to resist Zhengyi that he sensed among the Damarans fanned the fires of Orcus' impatience, leading
to him to make what perhaps was the fatal error in his plan to enter Faerûn.
Zhengyi still was recovering from the madness that had conquered him when his own magic went awry, and his
bonds to Orcus were broken during the Time of Troubles. Had Orcus left him in peace, it is possible that he
might have succeeded in bringing the demon god into Faerûn.
Instead, however, Orcus, afraid that a Damaran uprising could upset all of his plans, placed tremendous
pressure upon the Witch King, both to take the prisoners necessary to complete the opening of the mercury well
gate and to begin building a second gate beneath Castle Perilous in case the first might fall. Zhengyi attempted
to do these things, but the pressure Orcus had brought upon him also drove the lich into deep insanity from
which there could be no return.
Zhengyi sent out orders to the Grandfather of Assassins, to bring large numbers of prisoners to the mercury well
so that the duergar goat's head priests could sacrifice them to Orcus with their necromantic rites, and then the
Witch King descended into the unpopulated dungeons beneath his own ironclad fortress, to begin building the
second gate Orcus had demanded of him.
The Grandfather of Assassins was not pleased with the orders he had received from Castle Perilous. Like
Orcus, he too had sensed the spark of defiance that was spreading among the Damarans. Carrying out the
Witch King's orders to provide prisoners to be sacrificed could bring that spark to ignite a spreading fire of open
revolt among the population, one that might be difficult for the Grandfather and the diminished members of his
citadel to contain.
Outside of his own loyal but small number of followers and the generally reliable bandits who served them, the
Grandfather was left only with Zhengyi's host of giants and goblinkind in the mountains and on the Plain of
Goliad as well as the mercury skeletons that had been created in the Bloodstone Mines Temple.
The giants and goblinkind were quarreling with and willing to fight one another just as much as the Damarans
below. The magical command with which Zhengyi once had controlled them had dissipated in the Time of
Troubles, and the Grandfather saw no sign of its return. The mercury skeletons were good fighting automatons,
but they could not think or make the decisions necessary to survive long in battle.
The Grandfather of Assassins saw that he could be defeated, were the Damarans to find a charismatic leader
who could command them in battle against the hordes of Zhengyi, which were increasingly plagued by
dissonance as well as diminishing morale and motivation. On the other hand, the Grandfather was quite certain
that the Witch King would destroy him and place another upon his seat, if the lich's orders were ignored.
Reluctantly then, the Grandfather of Assassins went about doing as he was told, although he, his high priest
Banak and his archmage Knellict were agreed that Zhengyi's was an ill chosen path to follow. Thus, as has
happened so often in the recent history of the Bloodstone Lands, many odd and unrelated fixtures and forces
began coming together in Bloodstone Pass, and all of them arrived within a brief time in Bloodstone Village.
The series of events began in mid-Hammer in the Arcatan ducal seat of Valls, when Sir Gareth Dragonsbane
and his company arrived on the same day as the Circus of Dr. Trundles. During the course of the circus
program, a bulette or landshark (see the entry in the D&D 3E Monster Manual) managed to break out of its
circus cage, creating a dire threat that the Arcatans will ill prepared to handle. Sir Gareth and his party made
relatively quick work of the beast.
Two servants of Bloodstone Baron Tranth were in Valls buying supplies on the day the incident occurred, and
they learned that the quintet of adventurers was planning to rest a few days in Valls and then head on to
Bloodstone. The servants headed home and brought news of the adventurers to Baron Tranth.
A tenday earlier, a delegation from the Citadel of Assassins had come to Bloodstone to inform the baron of the
amount of annual tribute expected of him. For the first time, however, the demand contained a new element.
The Grandfather of Assassins also expected the baron to turn a part of his folk over to him, supposedly to work
as slaves in the Bloodstone Mines, which allegedly were being reopened by Zhengyi. The baron, they said,
could choose which of his folk would be enslaved.
For Tranth, this was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. He would not turn any of his subjects
over as slaves. Thus, the baron had begun planning to go to war against the Citadel of Assassins and its
henchmen, although he had little hope for victory.
It was not that the people of Bloodstone Pass were too weak to defeat the Grandfather's host. Most of them -
men and women alike - already had several battles behind them and could qualify at a minimum as 1st level
warriors. The baron still had a secret cache in the foothills of quality weapons with which he could arm his folk.
The residents of the pass could have been a superior force against the Grandfather's undisciplined giants and
goblinkind as well as his bandit warriors, who, in dire straits, would do what they needed to save their own hides
instead of seeking victory.
The weakness of the Bloodstone host was its lack of leadership. There was no one in the pass capable of
motivating the folk if it was mustered into an army, none who understood strategy or who could inspire the
citizen warriors and fill them with confidence.
When his servants, Garlen and Garvin, first told Baron Tranth of the five adventurers heading toward
Bloodstone Pass from Valls, their news kindled only the smallest spark of hope in Tranth's heart. He knew the
odds were that the adventurers were nothing more than a band of mercenaries out to loot the baronial treasury
as much as possible in return for the services they would render.
Nonetheless, the small spark of hope could not be damped by suspicions. The insistence of Garlen and Garvin
that the band of five had dealt with the bulette without asking for or receiving even a small reward caused the
spark to spread instead, and Baron Tranth thought for the first time that it still might be possible to turn the
heretofore ill winds of fate in Bloodstone Pass.
Sir Garth Dragonsbane and his party reached the Village of Bloodstone at the end of Hammer, a mere tenday
before the Grandfather's bandits were due to return for their tribute and their slaves. The paladins and his
companions were strangers in the village; their first stop was the sole hostelry, the Inn of the Clowns. To the
amazement of Stephan the Innkeeper, the strangers paid freely with gold.
They booked rooms at the inn and for the first time in years, brought laughter and joy into the public room. It
was not the sad-looking knight of few words named Gareth Dragonsbane who inspired the villagers, nor was it
the quiet monk named Brother Kane who studied the locals' faces rather than speaking with them.
The inspiration came from the fat priest of Ilmater who called himself Friar Dugald, from the fascinating half-elf
with a roguish face and more roguish tales named Celedon Kierney and, above all, from the songs, ballads and
verses of the second half-elf named Riordan Parnell. Before the evening had drawn to its end, there was
standing room only in the Inn of Clowns. For the first time in years, the idea crossed many a villager's mind that
life was no life at all, if one could not enjoy it.
The next morning Garlen and Garvin came to the inn with an invitation from Baron Tranth to a dinner meeting
that evening in his manor, which Sir Gareth accepted. There the party met several other guests, including the
baron's druidess daughter, Lady Christine; his key advisor, the 70-year-old sage Quillan; a mage named
Emelyn the Grey, a Soravian ranger known as Olwen the Forest-Friend and Abbot Aldric of the Ilmatari Abbey
of St. Sollars in the pass.
Except for the abbot, the guests were congenial and pleased to greet Sir Gareth and his party. Aldric clearly
was not pleased to have a much higher priest of his order, Friar Dugald of Heliogabalus, in his Bloodstone
Valley, he was adamantly against recruiting the visitors for a war against the Citadel of Assassins on the
grounds that a war would be hopeless. He also was not pleased to be chided by a senior priest for this attitude.
Emelyn the Grey had been working in Warrenwood in central Bloodstone Pass, teaching magic to the centaur
tribe there. The centaurs had fled westward after their forest had been leveled in flames and its soil and
waterway poisoned. Lady Christine, Olwen and Emelyn had been working since that time to cleanse the burnt
soil and replant the forest, in the hope that the centaurs one day would be able to return to the pass.
Quillan the Sage, in contrast to the abbot, was strongly in favor of putting an end to the terror of the Citadel of
Assassins, and he was confident that the victory could be won, if the villagers had the leadership they needed.
Sir Gareth assured the baron that this was exactly the kind of opportunity he had been seeking. It took little
time before the rest of his party agreed to take on the leadership and training of Bloodstone's army.
Early in Alturiak, an assassin-led party of six giants and 100 bandits, orcs and goblins rode down into
Bloodstone Pass to collect tribute and slaves. Instead, they were met by Sir Gareth Dragonsbane, Celedon
Kierney, Riordan Parnell, Friar Dugald, Brother Kane, Emelyn the Grey and Olwen Forest-Friend - all foes of
epic level - accompanied by 50 villagers Sir Gareth had deemed to be fit for battle. Every member of the
assassins' host soon lay dead on the field of battle with only minimal losses on the Bloodstone side.
This first round against the Citadel of Assassins gave the folk of Bloodstone a substantial boost in morale, and it
restored both their self confidence and their determination to live again free from Zhengyi's domination, but it
also was only a first battle and an easy victory. Others would come. That had become inevitable. They would
be harder, and they would exact a higher price.
In this first battle, the Grandfather of Assassins had sent only the usual ragtag band of bullies to Bloodstone
Pass. It was not prepared for the powerhouse attacks of seven epic level foes who probably could have wiped
out the tribute seekers without the token help of locals.
The Grandfather of Assassins too commanded men of power. The next match could see it in action. Sir Gareth
and his companions knew every available sword and mace would be needed in future conflicts. In addition, the
paladin and Brother Kane might have to slack their own attacks somewhat to provide protection to their only
powerful spellslingers, Emelyn and Friar Dugald, who were supported only by the more limited magic of Riordan
Parnell, Celedon Kierney and Olwen Forest-Friend.
From what one already knew about the Citadel of Assassins, it was probable that the Grandfather's archmage
Knellict, a match in power for Emelyn, and the high goat's head priest Banak, about the equal of Friar Dugald,
would join in the combat and bring with them middle level magi and goat's head priests, an area where the
Bloodstone spellsingers quickly could be mismatched.
Therefore, Sir Gareth and his followers pushed the folk of Bloodstone Pass into heavy drilling for more intense
combat yet to come, rather than letting them enjoy the laurels of winning the first battle in what came to be
known as the Bloodstone Wars.
The retaliatory attack came a tenday later. Fortunately for the citizens of Bloodstone Pass, the Grandfather of
Assassins again underestimated his foe, perhaps because he had received no news of what brought about the
fall of the assassins' Fleet Brigade Unit that was completely liquidated in the first battle. Knellict did not come to
Bloodstone Pass to support the attack, nor did other magi and priests take to the battlefield. The Grandfather
instead sent in a pure combat unit, twice the size of the first, half goblin and half human, under the command of
another assassin.
This battle was not quite as easy as the first, but in the end, 80% of the attackers lay dead in the pass. The
remainder, some wounded, fled back into the Galenas. The losses on the Damaran side were painful but
tolerable. However, among those who fled were the assassin commander of the invaders, one Welcar, and the
commander of the bandit army, Timoshenko. They returned to the Citadel of Assassins, to give the Grandfather
a detailed report on the nature of the opposition faced there.
The assassins' third attack began at midnight a few days later. The initial attack was intended to send fear
through the village's defenders and intimidate them, intending to destroy their morale before the main attack,
which was planned for the following day.
The attack was ill designed. The citadel had two spies among the villagers of Bloodstone, Jamison the Fletcher
and the ne'er-do-well Haldan, who had no visible means of support. Jamison was a respected villager and a
frequent customer in the public room of the Inn of Clowns, but he was not in the circles that had access to the
baron, nor was he interested in joining the Bloodstone Army. He excused himself with a phony tale about a trick
knee.
Haldan made no excuses; everyone recognized him being a part of the shady side of the village, and some
thought he alone was the shady side of the village. He gathered his information from the things he saw when
peering around forbidden corners, and that was little. Much of what he did see he didn't perceive well, because
he often was drunk.
The reports of these two villagers had been the basis up to that point for all of the knowledge with which the
Grandfather of Assassins could work. He and his henchmen estimated the newcomers who were leading the
folk of Bloodstone Village as being middle to middle-high level fighters with a priest and a mage of similar ability.
Banak, above all, was unaware that he would have to face the most powerful priest of Ilmater in the Cold Lands,
Dugald of Heliogabalus, whose name he had heard and who was of a similar epic level to Banak's. Nor did he
known that Emelyn the Grey, whom had been viewed by the assassins as a foolish and harmless mageling who
wasted his time with centaurs, in truth was an epic level wizard who commanded magic that could ban demons
and cancel the effects of his Amulet of Orcus (described on Page 3 of the roster booklet from H1 Bloodstone
Pass).
The latter was a severe blow to Banak, because the amulet raised dead, summoned demons and protected its
user until all dead within a large distance of the cleric had been risen. No magic known by or in the hands of
spell users under epic level could break the magic of the amulet.
The assassins' raid, as this battle later came to be called, was well planned, as far as the knowledge available
to the Citadel of Assassins was concerned. But that knowledge was inadequate, because the Grandfather of
Assassins, lulled by the submission of the Damarans, never took the steps necessary to place or recruit
competent spies in Bloodstone Village.
Thus it came to be that on a moonlit midnight in mid-Alturiak, Banak led a band of goat's head priests and 17
former assassin monks of Bhaal who still survived into Bloodstone Village. While Banak and his priests headed
for the cemetery to raise the dead, the assassins attempted to slip into the village with orders to slay Sir Gareth
and the six other outsiders who had taken over command of the Bloodstone Army. Two of the assassins had
orders to capture Lady Christine and bring her back to the citadel as a prisoner.
Their foray exacted a high toll from the Citadel of Assassins. Banak was the highest living priest of Orcus in
Faerûn, but he was slain in this night together with three other goat's head priests of middle level. Nor did any
of the 17 assassins return. Only one member of the party escaped destruction, a vampire.
Without the divine powers Bhaal had lent them, the former monks had become little more than fighter-rogues.
Celedon Kierney had trained the elite of the Bloodstone Army to deal with such villains. Nine of the 17 were
cornered and slain while entering the village. Then the alarm was sounded. The other eight, who had slipped
through the first ring of defense, were cornered and slain before reaching their targets.
The cemetery of Bloodstone Village is on the eastern end of the village, atop Graveyard Hill between the village
and the Beaumaris at the hill's eastern foot. Banak and three of his goat's head priests reached the cemetery
without trouble simply because it wasn't guarded. The high priest raised his amulet and called its protective
flames around him. He then summoned four demons from the abyss to protect and later fight for him and his
fellow priests. With his protection in place, Banak began raising the buried dead of Bloodstone Village as
skeletons and zombies, ordering them to descend into the village and slay all they encountered.
It was just past midnight, and Friar Dugald had just returned to his room in the Inn of the Clowns from the public
room below, when an alarmed resounded within him at the instant Banak summoned the four demons. He
knew that outsiders has been summoned and in which general direction. He also successfully guessed where.
Sensing the summoning of outsiders and the raising of the dead were among the epic abilities the priest had
gained.
Bellowing at the top of his lungs, Friar Dugald awoke all six other members of the fellowship, who had been
sleeping. Sir Gareth, who had not spent the night drinking, immediately sounded the village alarm bell atop the
Inn, and trained, armed villagers carrying their weapons and torches poured out of their homes and into the
village, cornering and slaying the eight surprised assassins who were heading toward the Inn of Clowns. At the
same time, runners from the outer perimeter guard who had slain the other nine assassins reached the village
center with their report.
Sir Gareth sent Celedon Kierney and Riordan Parnell to protect Baron Tranth, and as the alarm sounded, they
intercepted and slew the two assassins who were on their way to the baronial manor. At the same time,
following Friar Dugald, Sir Gareth, Brother Kane, Emelyn the Grey and Olwen Forest-Friend rushed toward
Graveyard Hill, where they encountered and destroyed the first wave of zombies and skeletons marching down
the hill.
Upon reaching the crest of the hill, they found more zombies and skeletons coming from their graves, saw
Banak encircled in flames, chanting with his amulet held high, and the high priest enclosed in a protective circle
of four Hezrou tanar'ri. With a sweep of his hands and a quick prayer, Friar Dugald drove the undead back into
their graves.
Sir Gareth, Brother Kane and Olwen Forest-Friend formed a protective half circle around Friar Dugald and
Emelyn the Grey, as the two began casting spells. Emelyn used his wand and ordered the three lesser priests
to die, which they did. The four Hezrou missed their first opportunity to strike back. Instead of slinging their
demonic spells at the party, they concentrated all of their energy upon breaking away to attack the intruders
physically.
However, the Amulet of Orcus in Banak's hands bound the demons to remain where they stood, to protect him.
Banak himself could do nothing. His full energy and concentration were flowing into the amulet. Emelyn began
muttering the words to one of his own epic level spells and then pointed his 10 fingers toward the hezrou. Thin
rays of golden light emanated from his fingertips and struck the demons, who for an instant looked surprised
that they had not been injured and then vanished. Emelyn's epic magic had banned the demons back to the
Abyss, and they would not be able to re-enter the material plane for the next century.
At the same time that Emelyn was busy banning the demons, Friar Dugald had directed the force of one of his
own epic spells against the amulet in Banak's hands. The metal symbol glowed white hot. Banak let the amulet
fall with a scream of pain. The Ilmatari priest told Sir Gareth and the others to stand to the side, that Banak was
his battle.
Both priests battered each other with spells for several minutes before Banak slumped dead to the ground.
Friar Dugald, who also was seriously wounded, told his companions to take the amulet and adder staff of Banak
before he too slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Two days passed before the severely spell-battered Friar Dugald was battle fit again. There were no high level
priests in Bloodstone Pass who could heal him rapidly. Only the druidess Lady Christine was powerful enough
to aid the ailing priest. However, he had been wounded by evil, demonic magic, and it took the baron's
daughter to return Friar Dugald to the state of health where the friar, using his own more powerful spells, could
heal himself properly.
All but one of the intruders who had raised Bloodstone Village had been destroyed. Friar Dugald had been the
only serious Bloodstone casualty. The one intruder who slipped into the village and back out again safely was a
vampire who had been in the service of Banak. His orders had been to infect the high priest.
The extent to which the vampire succeeded in his mission is questionable. Friar Dugald's identity was unknown
to Banak, but those who fled the second battle of Bloodstone had clearly seen the fat but powerful priest who
battered them with spells and a mace of disruption wearing the symbol of the Crying God. Banak jumped to the
conclusion that this priest would be lodging in the Abbey of St. Sollars rather than indulging himself in food and
drink at the Inn of Clowns.
The Grandfather sent the vampire to the abbey with instructions to overcome the high priest there and to make
a vampire of him. The vampire quickly identified Abbot Aldric as the abbey's high priest, although he was of
only middle level. He engaged the abbot, defeated him and with his bite infected Aldric with vampirism. Then
he left the abbey and returned before sunlight to his coffin in the Galenas, certain he had fulfilled his orders.
The unsuccessful raid Banak had led upon the village was only the first round of battle in that fateful week in
Alturiak. The raid was intended to weaken and demoralize the defenders, as a prelude to the final battle, in
which Bloodstone Village was to be razed and its inhabitants slain.
The Grandfather of Assassins had been plotting to extend his hand into Arcata, where turncoat Duke William
was targeted for assassination. The planned westward sweep was impossible, as long as the Bloodstone
rebels stood in the Grandfather's way.
The elite units of the Grandfather's host were camped at the entry to old, worked out dwarven mine shafts in the
Galenas above Bloodstone Past and below the closed Bloodstone Mines to the Northeast. The host was 1,000
strong, with more than 230 humans, 70 stone and hill giants, 100 orcs and 600 goblins.
Despite the heavy losses of the abortive raid upon Bloodstone Village the evening before, the Grandfather
needed to end the Bloodstone rising, and he believed he could do it. Up to now, he had played - and lost - only
one of his two trump cards, the high goat's head priest Banak. The epic wizard Knellict still was hidden in the
Grandfather's deck. The Grandfather had more faith in magi than in goat's head priests. Clergy of the undead
were alien to a former monk who had worshipped a deity of killing people who were intended to stay dead.
The only remaining option, the Grandfather thought, was a battle to the death, to the ultimate defeat of one side
or another. Thus, he and Knellict led his entire host of 1,000 down the Galenas on the following afternoon. If
the Grandfather had been counting on surprise, he was disappointed. Olwen Forest-Friend had traced the
tracks of the dead raiders back into the foothills of the Galenas by moonlight and reported the path to the enemy
camp a few hours after sunrise to Sir Gareth.
The fellowship did not delude itself with the idea that the Grandfather would give up after the loss of Banak and
all of his raiders. They knew attack would be imminent, a matter of days or even less. But in additional matter
was disturbing the paladin. Only three descendants of the royal Bloodfeathers family were known to still be
alive in Damara: Baron Tranth, Lady Christine and the Baron of Morov that Zhengyi had appointed, the self-
serving turncoat Dimian Ree.
Sir Gareth was certain that the enemy would do all it could to slay the baron and his daughter, deaths which
would give Ree a clear, uncontestable claim to the throne of Damara, as a puppet of Zhengyi and the
Grandfather of Assassins. Therefore, he insisted that the two nobles and the ailing Friar Dugald be taken to the
baron's mountain hideout and that he be guarded there by the elite of Bloodstone's own troops.
The baron agreed reluctantly. Despite his daughter's loud objections, issue the order. As a result, the only two
healers in Bloodstone Pass were absent from the village when the wounded and dying began being brought in
from the next battlefield.
The route downward led through the narrow mountain pass to the Bloodstone Mines. Sir Gareth sent 100 of his
best archers into the mountains on both sides of the pass. It was mid-afternoon before the Grandfather's host
reached the bottleneck where the marksmen awaited them. The 70 stone and hill giants led the march,
followed by the 100 orcs and the 600 goblins. The 230 humans, the most dangerous members of the host,
were in the rear.
At the beginning, the archers' attack was a tremendous success. More than 40 of the giants fell victim to their
arrows, blocking the pass. At least 70 of the orcs died too, when they fled stumbling and in panic over the
corpses of the giants. The goblins still were out of range, but they too were in a panic. The forward and rear
ranks began trampling some of their own to death.
The tide turned, however, when the epic enemy mage Knellict took to the air and hurled an earthshaking
magical blast into the barrier of corpses, sending body parts flying into the mountains and starting rock slides
that killed or injured half of the Bloodstone archers. However, the surviving marksmen succeeded in hitting the
flying wizard as he was preparing to release another spell, until his concentration was broken.
The wounded mage pulled the arrow shafts from his body, apparently not yet injured severely enough to force
his retreat. Instead, he gained altitude, flying out of the archers' range, to survey the situation. The pass had
been cleared ahead of the goblins. Those in the front were beginning to pour out of the pass toward Bloodstone
Village. But the last 200 or so goblins were trying to beat a retreat, one which approached a stampede that
could endanger the human ranks to the rear.
Knellict flew to the rear, dropped and fired two lightning bolts into the troublesome goblins. The result was that
another 50 goblins now lay dead in the pass, but the remainder stampeded in the proper direction. The rear of
the attack force again could proceed forward.
The point where Knellict had acted to turn the goblin tide was beyond the range of most of the Bloodstone
archers. Several arrows went up from the sides of the pass, but only one found its mark, a sensitive although
not critical mark. The shaft went through Knellict's right hand, impairing his ability to cast most spells. He was
forced to retreat to the rear, to seek healing from the goat's head priests. However, his job in the pass had been
done. The pass was open, and the Grandfather's army was marching again to Bloodstone Village.
Before the Bloodstone archers had departed to take up their positions, Sir Gareth also had sent warnings of the
impending attack on to Fredegar, head of the halfling militia of the Waukeshire, and to Thane Tokan, chief of the
500 Orothiar dwarves in the Galenas northwest of Lake Midai.
NOTE: The location of the Orothiar Clanhold was cut off of the official map of Bloodstone Pass in
FR9, but it is shown on the full official map of the pass in H2 The Mines of Bloodstone. The same
location is used on the Northern Journey maps.
Fredegar sent 50 halfling volunteers down the tunnels of the Warren to slip unseen into the vicinity of
Bloodstone Village, and Tokan sent 100 dwarven volunteers to join in the fray.
The first of the Grandfather's troops to reach the outskirts of Bloodstone Valley were the 32 surviving stone and
hill giants, followed by 30 orcs and 300 goblins still fit for battle. A mixed battle troop of human Bloodstone
Village archers and dwarves hid in the wood west of the road and waited for the enemy. When the giants
arrived, they were attacked simultaneously by arrows and the axes of dwarves running between their feet.
Alarm horns had sounded as soon as the attack had begun.
The last of the giants still were fighting when a troop of 150 foot soldiers charged up the road from the village to
engage and rather quickly dispatch the 30 orcs who had marched in after the giants. As the last stone giant fell,
the archers charged out of the wood to began battling the 300 goblins who were charging the field. After about
a quarter of the goblins lay dead, the commander of the Bloodstone unit ordered a fighting retreat. He knew the
goblins would be followed by the human element of the Grandfather's host.
These fighters would be mounted and would come with priests and magi capable of slinging spells. He wanted
his own troops inside the wall before they arrived, which indeed happened soon. Many parts of the village wall
had been destroyed in the past. The breaches had been filled with segments of wooden palisade wall, but Sir
Gareth had known they would not hold long, no longer than they would take to burn.
On the other hand, he hoped that the weak areas of the wall might serve as something of a strategic trap. If
things went well, the walls might lure the remaining magi of the Grandfather to them, to destroy them with
magic, which would make them open targets of well placed archers. To a certain extent, his wish was granted.
The wooden walls were ignited, and two magi lay dead on the ground. Three more survived.
Before fleeing their posts on the burning walls, the archers also made some painful reductions in the ranks of
the Grandfather's goblins, who apparently didn't understand that it takes considerable time for a wooden wall to
burn before it can be breached. As soon as the flames arose, the goblins charged the wall in such dense
masses that almost every arrow fired reached a target.
Another target was the Grandfather's epic archmage Knellict. Based upon news that had been relayed
magically from the battle in the Galenas pass, Sir Gareth and his commanders estimated that the Grandfather
would reach Bloodstone Village with five low to middle level magi and three low to middle level goat's head
priests.
Abbot Aldric remained ill and could not aid in the battle, but two lower level goat's head priests were on hand.
Celedon Kierney, a middle level sorcerer, and the epic level wizard Emelyn the Grey were the only magi on the
defenders' side.
The order of the day was for Kierney to work from under cover as much as possible and the two Ilmatari priests
to remain behind the lines to use their healing powers, which were exhausted quickly. The Bloodstone soldiers
all were under orders to try to spot the enemy spell users and immobilize them as quickly as possible.
Knellict was a special threat to the defenders. His epic level spells could cause considerable losses in short
order, were he not kept occupied. Emelyn the Grey was given the assignment to take Knellict out of combat as
quickly as possible. The Bloodstone wizard had prepared two of his own epic spells to gain this end.
As Knellict and the Grandfather of Assassins came within range, Emelyn withheld his attack magic and worked
a spell instead to determine what protective magicks Knellict had woven. He found that his rival had protected
himself and the Grandfather against attacks from arrows, but all magical paths to Knellict remained open.
Emelyn then used his first epic spell that created an invisible sphere around Knellict. The sphere stopped all
magic that Knellict might use to teleport or gate himself out of the sphere, but the sphere itself could be
teleported or gated by another mage. The spell took its effect without the rival wizard noting it. Instead, Knellict
directed his energy toward the weakest spot in the burning wall, battering it with a Disintegrate spell.
The weakened section of the wall vanished immediately, creating the first breach. The attack was a substantial
setback for the defenders. Sir Gareth had hoped to keep the foe from entering the village until his archers had
slain more enemy footmen. However, the breached point in the wall was blocked by the Grandfather's goblins,
the weakest element of the Grandfather's host. They poured through the breach, but the more competent
bandit units of the Grandfather's army were blocked by the goblins from using it.
As Knellict prepared another spell, Emelyn the Grey, covered by an Improved Invisibility spell, had moved to a
point where Knellict was within his range. Emelyn then used another of his own epic spells, Greater
Teleportation, to transport himself and the sphere containing Knellict to an empty pasture a bit more than a
mile/2 km south of Bloodstone Village.
There the two epic wizards battled each other in a long duel. Several times Knellict attempted to teleport
himself away, but without success. In the end, both wizards were seriously injured and running short of spells,
but Emelyn was the more powerful of the two, and he had chosen his spells more wisely. Knellict knew he must
escape or his death was near.
His Teleport spell, which Emelyn's sphere had kept him from using, remained available. He tried again and
succeeded. Emelyn's spell had expired. The severely injured Knellict had teleported himself back to the Citadel
of Assassins. As he fell into unconsciousness, the epic mage was hoping one or two of the goat's head priests
below would survive and return soon, to begin healing him. Without such aid, the helpless Knellict thought his
death was likely.
Emelyn also was seriously injured by Knellict's magic, and he had no spells upon which he could call to
transport him back to the village. Despite his severe injuries, he was forced to walk back. When he reached
the Beaumaris, he managed to make his way to the east bridge and then southward below Graveyard Hill, but
his strength failed him there. After the battle, he was found there, unconscious but still clinging to the spark of
life.
While Emelyn and Knellict were busy dueling, a fierce battle raged in Bloodstone Village. All but a few of the
Grandfather's goblins and orcs had been slain, and half of the bandits and assassins who had ridden down from
the Grandfather's campsite lay dead in the dust, but there were more than 200 dead among the ranks of the
Bloodstone Army as well. The defenders were gaining the upper hand. In the Grandfather's ranks, only he and
Knellict were a match for Sir Gareth, Celedon Kierney, Riordan Parnell, Brother Kane and Olwen Forest-Friend.
Knellict had vanished shortly after the battle had been joined and had not returned. His fate was unknown to
the Grandfather. His own forces not only were less powerful than the defenders; they were becoming badly
outnumbered as well. The Grandfather reconsidered his resolve to battle to the death; it was clear to him that
the death he would win would be his own.
Thus, the call to retreat was sounded. Of the original host of 1,000 that had risen down from the Galenas, 100
human assassins and bandits, one low level mage, one middle level goat's head priest and the Grandfather still
were alive. As they fled the walls of Bloodstone Village, the defenders pursued them on foot. Most of those
who still had their mounts succeeded in fleeing. Those who ran on foot were slain by the pursuing defenders.
The survivors of the Grandfather's host did not return to their camp below the Bloodstone Mines but kept on
until they reached the hidden Citadel of Assassins, where they found the unconscious Knellict and began
healing him in the knick of time.
The Grandfather's men fled as quickly as they could. Olwen Forest-Friend went after them, slowly, taking
concealment wherever he could, relying on his knowledge of the outdoors to avoid being seen by any who
might be watching. The host's tracks were easy to follow. Thus, the Bloodstone Army at last came to know
where the hidden Citadel of Assassins stood.
The rejoicing over the victory in Bloodstone Village was subdued. Many had died in the battle. Friar Dugald
had returned to the village, completely healed, before the battle had ended. Rather than joining it, he had
turned to doing what healing he could, but even with his epic level, his healing powers soon were exhausted.
After the battle had ended, Lady Christine returned from hiding and exhausted her healing crafts as well. Sir
Gareth already had used all of his healing powers as a paladin during the battle. Because there were too few
who could heal, several villagers died before they could be saved.
When Sir Gareth and his fellowship analyzed the situation after the battle, they concluded that Bloodstone
slowly could lose what it had won through attrition. With the possible exceptions of Knellict and the Grandfather
himself, the Citadel had no more high-powered opponents to send in battle against the defenders. The
Grandfather's abilities to have his wounded healed also were severely diminished, although he might be able to
draw more goat's head priests from other sources.
The fellowship doubted that the Grandfather's fallen magi would be replaced. Were Zhengyi able to give the
Citadel more wizards or sorcerers, they believed, he would have done so already. However, the Grandfather
remained a serious threat because of sheer numbers. The entire host on the Plain of Goliad still could be
mustered against Bloodstone Village, and the number of defenders was dwindling.
When Olwen Forest-Friend returned with news of the hidden Citadel's location, the fellowship pondered a
sudden attack against it but quickly dropped the idea. Everyone was certain that the citadel would be well
protected by traps. The Bloodstone Army would have all of the disadvantages that Grandfather's host had
found on enemy terrain in its attack in Bloodstone Village and more. The chances of winning the battle with the
Bloodstone Army's current forces were slim. The fellowship decided its own army needed to recuperate and
simply wait for the next blow on its home ground, hoping to hold the defense again.
NOTE: According to H2 The Mines of Bloodstone, the next attack occurred in September, which
would be equivalent to Eleint in the Forgotten Realms. However, the events detailed in the H-
Series and FR9 are more credible if this attack follows shortly after the last, leaving reasonable
time for other events to transpire. For that reason, we have set the next attack in the month of
Ches.
The citadel's fourth attack came early in Ches, but without Knellict or a host that Sir Gareth's rested army could
face and defeat. Just as the villagers were waiting for the first harbingers of Spring, a deep, late frost came to
Bloodstone Pass, leading to fears of a second Wolf Winter in place of the expected spring warmth. Two days
later, two feet/60 cm of snow falls in a single night. And in the cold of that night, near the abbey, a chilling
scream was heard. Worg wolves, some infected with lycanthropy, poured from the abbey.
A group of villagers had been slain and partially devoured. A crude symbol of a goat's head had been drawn in
blood on the abbey's gate and blood had been smeared on its inner walls. The latter puzzled Brother Kane and
Friar Dugald, because some of the blood had been smeared high on the walls, well above the worgs' reach.
Such attacks were repeated another three nights in a row before Friar Dugald finally had gotten to the bottom of
things. Acting upon the orders of the vampire who had conquered and then dominated him, the Abbot Aldric
had summoned the wolves and led the attacks. Dugald and Kane cornered the vampire who had been a cleric
of their own faith and saw to his destruction.
A few days later, Olwen Forest-Friend returned to Bloodstone Village after going into the wilderness to track the
worgs, saying he found considerable evidenced that the worgs as well as other evil creatures were coming from
the closed Bloodstone Mines. Baron Tranth called a great council that included both Sir Gareth's party and
local leaders. After an impassioned appeal enhanced by bardic magic from the half elf Riordan Parnell, the
council decided it was time to take the offensive, to invade, clean up and restore the mines.
At the beginning of the last tenday in Ches, the Bloodstone force of 800 together with 400 dwarves of the
Orothiar Clan fought its way into the mines. In a bit of ingenious strategy, Olwen Forest-Friend and a band of
Bloodstone rangers sealed lesser exits from the mines as Sir Gareth and his troops fought their way through the
main gate. Through this deed, the Grandfather of Assassins first learned of the attack several hours after the
mine battle had ended.
The Bloodstone troop suffered more serious losses in the battle for the mines. However, once Sir Gareth's host
had teamed up with the svirfneblin who had been driven from their own halls, it at last managed to slay most of
the duergar in the mines and drive the remainder back into the depths.
The final phase of the battle found Sir Gareth and his party in a deadly battle with the demons in charge of the
mercury pool, but eventually the tanar'ri were driven back through the gate into the Abyss. Then the magic of
Emelyn the Grey caused the entire cavern in which the pool was housed to collapse, sealing it.
In early Mirtul, to cap the victory celebration, Baron Tranth gave the hand of his daughter, the druidess Lady
Christine, to Sir Gareth in marriage. The Bloodstone Mines had been freed of the duergar and the minions of
Orcus, but at a hard price in the lives of warriors from Bloodstone Pass, who had fallen in battle. It was clear
that the Bloodstone Army's chances of a victory in the next battle - which was to certain to come, would be slim
indeed, were it not for unexpected help.
And even greater trouble was brewing. Orcus in the Abyss was enraged over the destruction of the temple and
mercury pool gate in the Bloodstone Mines. Sir Gareth had made his attack upon the mines in just the knick of
time. Less than a hundred more sacrifices, and the gate would have open sufficiently for the demon god to
enter the Realms. The fury of Orcus over being so near and now so far again knew no bounds.
Zhengyi already was a raving lunatic at this time, but Orcus ravaged his enslaved lich with waves of terror,
wracking his undead body with horrible waves of abysmal pain, threatening the Witch King with eternal torture in
Orcus' Bone Palace should Zhengyi fail to widen his new gate soon. Through the magic of Orcus, Zhengyi had
been able to capture much of the magic of the undead created at the pool of mercury and transfer it into a
second gate into the Abyss that he had opened in the dungeons beneath Castle Perilous.
Before he had finished torturing the Witch King, Orcus saw that the lich had become too unstable mentally to do
the job the demon god had given him. At that point, Orcus took complete control of Zhengyi, steering all of his
actions. He destroyed what remained of the lich's mind, making of him a brainless, undead robot completely
under the demon god's control.
The facet of Orcus that controlled Zhengyi was not insane and unstable as the Witch King had been. The
magic or Orcus once again had been freed in Castle Perilous, and with it, the facet that possessed Zhengyi
brought the chaotic giants and goblinkind in the Western Galenas - some 200,000 in number - back under his
domination. In the East Galenas and the other areas under the command of the Grandfather of Assassins as
well as in Damara, these events went unnoticed.
In Mirtul, the Orothiar dwarves and the svirfneblin deeper below again were mining Bloodstone. The human
miners did not return to the mines in the Year of the Serpent, however. Instead, they remained on full duty as
soldiers in the Bloodstone Army.
At that time, Southern Damara had become, among other things, a landscape of refugee camps filled with men,
women and children who had fled their homes in the face of Zhengyi's invading hordes. The tales of the
Bloodstone Army's victories in the North began spreading through the land, not always to the pleasure of Morov
Baron Dimian Ree and some of the other puppet barons and dukes who had been placed upon their seats by
Zhengyi.
Sir Gareth had shown in the North that Zhengyi was not invincible. Should he continue to win his battles, they
thought, he well might become the monarch of a new Damaran kingdom that would have little room for them.
However, they knew better than to try to stem the small tide of refugees, most from Brandiar and Soravia, who
were migrating northward over Arcata to join the Bloodstone Army. Even the turncoat Arcatan Duke William VIII
knew better than to order his soldiers to raise their swords against other Damarans.
The second source of unexpected help arrived in Bloodstone Village a few days before the wedding between
Sir Gareth and Lady Christine. An old friend, War Captain General Haelimbrar of Impilturian Vordric-Dun, and a
party of more than 200 warriors, priests and magi had come disguised as mercenaries to celebrate the paladin's
wedding and to remain for the duration.
War Captain Regent Kyrlraun, who long had insisted upon Impiltur staying out of the Damaran war, at last had
begun to understand the threat that Zhengyi was posing to all of the Cold Lands. He was not yet ready to
declare war upon Vaasa, but he did grant Haelimbrar's request for leave to covertly support Sir Gareth, and he
also approved his request that he be allowed to take Impilturian volunteers with him, on the condition that they
go to Damara without wearing the kingdom's colors or their badges of office.
At home, Haelimbrar was said only to be on a secret mission for the crown. His deputy, War Captain Limbrar,
took temporary command of the Northern Sword Division of the Sword of Impiltur in Vordric-Dun in the general's
absence. The seeming mercenary band with which the disguised Haelimbrar traveled consisted of a dozen
middle to high level paladins, a strong core of high level fighters from Vordric-Dun's Northern Sword, 10 Ilmatari
war priests who served the Sword and 14 magi from Vordric-Dun's Wand of Impiltur, all of middle to high level.
The band took an arduous route into Damara, riding in its Impilturian colors as far as the garrison in Dunfee on
the Impilturian side. Haelimbrar and his men then outfitted themselves with counterfeit symbols of Zhengyi's
host and slowly descended the difficult mountain trails to Arcatan Tomrav. There, the troop divided into two
bands that never strayed far from one another. All of these ploys were intended to shield the advance of the
Impilturians from the eyes of Zhengyi's hordes in the North.
Word spread of the bands of grim men moving across Arcata, but the tales that were told made no mention of
Impiltur. Instead, it was said that these were units of Zhengyi's own Vaasan bandit army who had crossed the
Galenas and entered Arcata, to confirm for the Witch King that Arcatan Duke William was fulfilling Zhengyi's
orders to the letter.
The disguised Impilturians rode on in Arcata to Ravensburg and then over Valls and Ostrav to the site of
modern day Windless, where they camped. The Arcatan Army avoided all contact with the bands, which
remained out of the Arcatan settlements. The Arcatans had no desire to tangle with Zhengyi's agents.
As his bands camped where Windless one day would stand, Haelimbrar called upon a group of elite commando
warriors under his command and two powerful illusionists from the Wand of Impiltur for his first foray against the
minions of the Citadel of Assassins. His operation had two goals.
The great lord of Imphras II knew that Bloodstone Village would have only limited provisions with which to feed
its own host and the folk of Bloodstone Pass. He did not want his own troops to further burden that limited
supply. He wanted to ride into Bloodstone Village with his own provisions.
In addition, Haelimbrar wanted to do all he could to demoralize the bandits, giants and goblinkind who
comprised the host of the Grandfather of Assassins on the Damaran Plain. With the help of his illusionists, he
put together several small guerilla units. Each of them slipped into the southern foothills of the Galenas by night
and then slithered unseen to the edges of the camps, knocking out and capturing individual soldiers on watch
as well as two lower level goat's head priests.
The disappearances stirred no suspicion in the Citadel of Assassins. Desertions from the Plain of Goliad were
becoming somewhat common. The missing soldiers and priests simply were written off as deserters. Within a
few days time, interrogations of prisoners had given Haelimbrar what he was seeking, the locations of two key
food storage areas of the enemy on the Plain of Goliad.
Disguised as fellow members of the bandit army and led by Haelimbrar and another officer wearing the robes
and head masks of the two captured goat's head priests, the Impilturian host more than 200 strong swept down
from the Galenas in a blitz raid upon the two food stores, slew nearly 100 members of the bandit army that
guarded them and freed all of the bandits' horses, to make an effective pursuit impossible.
The Impilturians cleaned out the enemy food stores, using the bandits' own wagons to transport the captive
booty, and then, slinging spells and slashing with swords, the seemingly traitorous host cut its way
northwestward across the Plain of Goliad, racing through one surprised and sleepy bandit camp after another,
always slaying as it rode and ever sure to free the bandits' horses.
The Grandfather's troop on Goliad Plain never had been attacked by the subjugated Damarans. There had
been a number of incidents within their own ranks, but these all had been the work of small groups or
individuals who usually were apprehended and slain. The ill guarded and sleeping camps were not at all
prepared for what appeared to have been a large scale raid mounted from within their own ranks. The
Grandfather's troop had sustained painful casualties in every camp through which Haelimbrar's men rode, but
the Impilturians' losses were light, and the few bodies they left behind bore only the badges of the grandfather's
own army, although none knew from which unit they had come.
Because the Impilturians had freed the Bandit Army's horses wherever possible, there was no effective pursuit.
By the time Haelimbrar had reached his camp where Windless now stands, the last eyes in the Grandfather's
service had been left far behind. Camp was broken quickly, and the Impilturians slipped into Bloodstone Pass.
Reaching Bloodstone Village was not so easy, however. A patrol of the Bloodstone Army in the foothills east of
the Beaumaris and south of Bloodstone Village spotted what appeared to be a bandit host of 200 riding in hard
from the south in the early dawn hours. Alarm trumpets sounded, and runners were sent into the village to bring
news of the advancing attack force.
The patrol in the foothills was outnumbered 4 to 1, but it had the advantages of excellent cover and knowledge
of the home terrain. When the Impilturian host began coming within range, the outermost Bloodstone archers
fired their first arrows at the invaders. Fortunately, the first shafts went wild of their mark.
Haelimbrar had expected such a reception and had given him men orders to draw no weapons without a
command from him to do so. He gave a signal to his adjutant, who unfurled a large white flag and called to the
Bloodstone patrol for a parley.
The patrol's commander was a young Ilmatari paladin who had been taught to respect the traditional rules of
war, although he also expected no similar honoring of tradition from the grandfather's bandits. His signaled for
his own men to hold their fire but also to be ready to resume their attack immediately. He then sent one of his
captains with a small group of soldiers down to the bandit troop to parley.
Haelimbrar identified himself as a friend of Sir Gareth from Impiltur who had come to help. The Bloodstone
captain was a veteran of the first battle at the Ford of Goliad, where King Virdin fell. He was used to tricks from
Zhengyi's minions, and was inclined to believe nothing that the Impilturian general told him and said so.
However, he also noted the Impilturian accent of the invaders' leader, so he could not be certain that the tale
was untrue either.
Haelimbrar said he understood the captain's suspicions, but he asked that the Bloodstone troops hold their fire
until the matter could be decided. He said as long as the Bloodstone troops held their fire, his own men would
remain where they were and draw no weapon. In the meantime, he asked that the Bloodstone troops take his
message to Sir Gareth, who he claimed was his personal friend.
The captain agreed to take the message back to his commander. The young paladin was unwilling to attack the
invaders as long as they held their position and drew no weapons. The unusual behavior of the seeming
bandits also made him begin to wonder whether they might be telling the truth. He sent another runner to
Bloodstone Village with Haelimbrar's message.
When Sir Gareth received word of the invasion, he too suspected a trap. He doubted the Grandfather of
Assassins would send a troop of a mere 200 men into the pass to be slaughtered. He assumed this was a
diversion, and a larger attack would be amounted elsewhere while the Bloodstone Army concentrated upon the
small band of invaders. The entire Bloodstone host was awakened and placed on full alert under the command
of Celedon Kierney. Sir Gareth rode forth with a patrol of 50 men to deal with the invaders.
At the halfway point, Sir Gareth's group was met by the second runner, who bore the message that the leader of
the invaders claimed to be an Impilturian friend of the paladin. The news left Sir Gareth perplexed and quite
curious to see who awaited him. To send a small band of invaders led by an Impilturian claiming to be his friend
seemed to Sir Gareth to be a truly odd trick for the Grandfather of Assassins to employ. He could make no
sense of it.
On the other hand, Impiltur had firmly denied Damara's request for military aid in its fight against Zhengyi. Sir
Gareth knew the law-abiding paladins of Queen Sambryl would not violate Kyrlraun's orders to come to war in
Bloodstone Pass.
When he finally saw that Haelimbrar and others among his Impilturian friends had indeed come to his aid, the
paladin was so amazed that he almost blurted out the general's name in greeting. Only in the last instant did it
occur to Sir Gareth that Haelimbrar had not given the Bloodstone commander his name, and there might be a
reason for that.
Sir Gareth gave his men the signal that the riders were indeed friends, and he and Haelimbrar embraced and
then drew Sir Gareth off to the side, explaining the conditions under which Kyrlraun had permitted him to come
to Damara. From then on, the Impilturian general was known in Damara as the mercenary captain Findelraun,
said to be a friend of Sir Gareth and Brother Kane and also a devote follower of Ilmater.
The evening that followed was a warm and welcoming prelude to the coming summer. All of Bloodstone Village
celebrated the arrival of the Impilturians with an impromptu festival on the village green in front of the Inn of
Clowns. At last Bloodstone Village could afford to celebrate too, because the Impilturians had brought with
them six wagonloads of grain and other non-perishables they had paid in tribute the previous autumn.
Two days later, the villagers and the Impilturians celebrated again, this time the wedding of Sir Gareth and Lady
Christine. A summer of peace, bountiful crops and prosperity followed, giving the residents of Bloodstone Pass
the time they needed to recuperate and prepare for new evils they expected to fall upon them in the fall. As a
dowry, Baron Tranth retired and gave the barony to Sir Gareth.
There was only one clash with the Grandfather's forces in the summer of the Year of the Serpent, and that was
instigated by the Bloodstone host. Baron Gareth, Celedon Kierney, Riordan Parnell and Friar Dugald led a host
of Bloodstone's finest troops down the road from the pass to Goliad, slaying any of the Grandfather's bandits,
giants, orcs and goblins flanking the road who came within range. The host guarded a caravan of several
wagons that was transporting the first yield of the reopened mines to the market in Heliogabalus.
Word had begun to spread that bloodstone was cursed, driving the market price well below what it had been,
but Baron Gareth's heavily armed caravan still yielded profit enough to buy wares, supplies and weapons in the
capital that were needed sorely at home. On the return trip, the Grandfather's hosts on the Plain of Goliad had
mustered into stronger units, but they were no match for the Bloodstone host. After two short battles that sent
the enemy into retreat, the Bloodstone riders met no more resistance, although they were watched by enemy
units northeast of the road who watched without acting.
News of the Bloodstone caravan had other interesting side effects. Word already had spread that the
Bloodstone Army had reopened the mines. After the caravan had sold its wares in Heliogabalus, exaggerated
rumors of fantastic wealth being taken from the Bloodstone Mines spread throughout the Lake Mogador area,
the population center of Damara. Other rumors reported that the Bloodstone Army had slain Zhengyi.
Not only refugees began heading northward. After the fall of the Damaran kingdom, a large part of the
population was reduced to poverty. Most folks disbelieved the rumors, but many saw for the first time in two
years of misery the first fence with green grass on the other side, and they migrated northward. Those who
traveled direct from Goliad often were slain by the bandit army on the plain, but those who took the longer route
over Valls usually suffered at worst harassment from the Arcatans.
Haelimbrar, in his disguise as Findelraun, kept his men in Bloodstone Village for only a few days after the
wedding. In the first days of Kythorn, the Impilturians moved to a strategic position Baron Gareth long had
wanted to fortify, the site of present day Windless. The tide of immigrants and returning refugees did not reach
its peak until Eleasias, but the migration northward already had begun in Mirtul.
The Impilturians not only provided a defensive fortification against the Grandfather's bandit army on the Plain of
Goliad but also a control point at the entry to Bloodstone Pass. Not all of the refugees and immigrants who
headed toward Bloodstone with good intentions. Some were men of evil or agents of the enemy, who were
taken prisoner after being detected by Impilturian war priests.
Furthermore, anyone who wanted to enter the pass was made well aware of Baron Gareth's edicts. All who
came to his barony with good will would be provided a plot of land where they could build and raise their own
crops, if they wished, and in the first year, they would be provided with grain and other foods from the baronial
granary, but each able-bodied men would be required to serve in the Bloodstone Army until Damara at last was
freed of Zhengyi.
Few refused the baron's conditions. A growing number of the newcomers accepted Haelimbrar's offer to work
on the fortifications being built in the wind-sheltered southern mouth of the pass and to settle there rather than
within the pass proper. By the year's end, Windless was a bustling large town of 2,500.
Shortly after Baron Gareth's arrival in Bloodstone Village, an Impilturian civilian named Rulmgar (the current
Impilturian Royal Finance Minister) had volunteered his services. Rulmgar had been in Damara since the time
of Zhengyi's rise and had spent much of his time working with Damarans who had sabotaged operations of the
Witch King's puppets.
Rulmgar had proven himself to be an excellent fighter and scout. Dragonsbane had given him the command of
a Damaran Army unit. With the founding of Windless, Baron Gareth thought Rulmgar would make an excellent
burgomaster and a good liaison to the Impilturian detachment.
The latter assumption could have been a tactical error had an Impilturian Lord of Imphras II other than
Haelimbrar come to Bloodstone Pass. Rulmgar, a distant relative of Impilturian Queen Sambryl, had little love
for the law-and-order Ilmater-persevering paladin Lords of Imphras II or the divine judges of Tyr who served
them.
In early summer of the Year of the Spur (1348 DR), Rulmgar left Impiltur and crossed into Damara, looking for
excitement and people who might have more respect for his talents than the holy justices of Tyr in Impiltur,
forsaking his homelands, in the minds of many important Impilturians.
However, Haelimbrar, who was something of a renegade among the Ilmatari Lords of Imphras II, understood
and had sympathy for Rulmgar's thinking. They became close friends. The great war general also predicted
that Rulmgar one day would return home to play an important role in the affairs of Impiltur. However, several
years passed before Rulmgar would understand what Haelimbrar had seen in him. Although both are in Impiltur
again, they remain close friends.
Most of the other settlers who traveled beyond Windless were placed on the rich but still untilled plain at the
mouth of the pass leading up to the Bloodstone Mines. Baron Gareth sent a large contingent of men to the site
to help construct fortifications and housing. By the year's end, it had grown into a small town of 1,500 that
Baron Gareth named Virdin in memory of the fallen king.
The respite, which gave the Barony of Bloodstone time to recuperate, ended in early Eleint. It gave Baron
Gareth and his followers not merely a renewal but a substantial strengthening. The population of Bloodstone
Valley had increased by some 5,000. Among the new were many capable fighting men as well as magi and
priests.
As autumn approached, the next phase of the unending war began. Zhengyi had become something similar to
a weak avatar of Orcus. The demon god controlled the Witch King, but his abilities still were limited to those of
Zhengyi. The Grandfather of Assassins had failed to provide him with the living creatures he needed to
succeed in completing the gate beneath Castle Perilous that was intended to bring Orcus into the Realms.
The demon god was enraged and impatient. Messengers were sent both to the Grandfather and Zhengyi’s
puppet, Duke William of the Lazy, that the Barony of Bloodstone was to be conquered or they would forfeit their
own lives.
The first threat came from Duke William and the first strike from the grandfather. He began by sending a series
of diplomatic notes complaining about refugees crossing his borders to enter Bloodstone Pass He also
complained that his roads were being used to transport Bloodstone and other goods to market without paying
his tolls and customs taxes.
As a duke, he said, his position in the hierarchy of nobility was higher than Baron Gareth’s; therefore, the baron
owed him fealty. He issued an ultimatum: Baron Gareth could swear fealty to the duke, turn control of the
Bloodstone Army over to Arcata and pay the duke 25% of all wealth earned in the barony, or the baron could
choose to face Arcata in war.
Baron Gareth sent the Arcatan messengers back to Valls empty handed and with an insulting refusal. Although
Duke William feared the deed, his master Zhengyi gave him no choice in the matter. The duke declared war
upon the barony, and he began to mobilize the Arcatan troops. Thus began the so-called Bloodstone Wars.
NOTE: The outcome of these Bloodstone Wars varies between the H-series of modules and FR9.
The final modules, H4 The Throne of Bloodstone, describes how the forces of Arcata, Carmathan,
Morov, Ostel and Polten all are defeated by the Bloodstone Army.
In the H4 version, Duke William of Arcata surrenders and is replaced. Baron Gareth of Bloodstone
also replaces Duke Helmont XIV of Carmathan, who is slain in battle, and the puppet barons
Dimian Ree of Morov, Zorth of Polten and Sylvia of Ostel, all of whose armies were defeated in
battle.
In FR9 The Bloodstone Lands, a strange diplomatic solution is found which allows William the Lazy
to remain Duke of Arcata. The fallen Helmont XIV is replaced by an equally evil imposter, Helmont
XV, and for not always logical reasons, Dimian Ree, Sylvia and Zorth, despite their defeats, remain
in power.
For those game masters who wanted to run a campaign in the Bloodstone Lands but hadn’t used
the H-series of modules, the FR9 version offered wider gaming opportunities than the concluding
summaries of H4.
In this accessory, the ending year of the H-Series and FR9, the Year of the Serpent (1359 DR), lies
more than 12 years in the past. For our history, we’ve chosen a mix of elements from FR9 and the
H-Series und amused these as a foundation. Upon it, we’ve attempted to build a credible history
for the “missing” 12 years, to set the stage for gaming in our unofficial versions of Damara and
Vaasa beginning in the Year of Wild Magic (1372 DR).
The residents of Bloodstone Pass were not the only ones to rebuild their strength during the period of respite.
During this time, the Grandfather had given his surviving assassins the task of teaching the more gifted bandit
warriors the stealthy skills of an assassin. Others were employed in the production of poisons.
A team of the new assassins had been sent to Valls to serve Duke William under the leadership of one of the
surviving former assassin monks known only as The Fist. The new assassins were a mere shadow of the
murderous monks of Bhaal whom the Grandfather once had commanded, but he believed that the new
assassins could succeed against the defenders in Bloodstone, where men had been trained as warriors and still
were inexperienced in dealing with stealth.
When Duke William’s messengers rode forth from Valls with the ultimatum, the duke’s new assassins, armed
and carrying poisons, began slipping into Bloodstone Village along with other refugees. Their alignments all
had been disguised in advance through the use of magic, enabling them to make it past the Impilturian war
priests in Windless. Their assignment was to concentrate on Baron Gareth’s fellowship of seven, destroying the
leadership and the strategists of the Bloodstone Army, so that it would fall easily to the attacking Arcatans.
However, the Grandfather again had underestimated the preparedness of his foe in Bloodstone. The attempts
of The Fist and the other assassins to enter the command headquarters and the baronial mansion were
thwarted, and an attempt to slay Friar Dugald, who was stuffing himself in the Inn of Clowns, failed too, although
it caused substantial damage.
The assassin who was targeted for the fat priest attempted to slay him by setting fire to the inn. The blaze
started in a rear part of the inn. The assassin was caught doing it and was slain. Unfortunately, a north wind
blew through the pass on that day. The fire raged quickly through the wooden building, destroying it completely.
Two villagers died in the flames, and 12 more fell in combat against assassins.
When the Bloodstone troops began their march southward, Lady Christine and Olwen Forest-Friend had stayed
behind along with 300 members of the Bloodstone Army to guard the pass.
At the end of Eleint, the ill-trained and inexperienced but overconfident Arcatan force – 1,600 strong - began its
march against Bloodstone, coming to a halt before the Impilturians in Windless, who had little trouble blocking
the invaders until the Bloodstone Army came forth, with the halflings of the Waukeshire and Orothiar dwarves
cutting off the Arcatans from behind.
It is said that the battle lasted only minutes before the Arcatans raised the white flag of surrender. More than
300 Arcatans lay dead upon the battlefield, while the Bloodstone forces had suffered only minor losses. Baron
Gareth accepted the surrender but set few terms.
After the victory he told the Arcatan commanders they need only return home with their men and pledge not to
hinder the Bloodstone Army on its march southward. Dragonsbane had received warnings that Duke Helmont
IV was preparing to invade Bloodstone Pass, and he intended to confront the Carmathan army before it neared
its goal. He also said he expected no hindrances when he would take Arcatan Duke William and his advisors
prisoner.
Because the Bloodstone Army reached Valls before the Arcatan survivors, the duke’s court received too little
advance warning for an escape. Duke William and three of his advisors were taken prisoner with little trouble.
Baron Gareth sent them back to Bloodstone Village with an armed escort and orders that they were to be tried
by Olwen Forest-Friend, Lady Christine and retired Baron Tranth on charges of treason against the Kingdom of
Damara. Baron Gareth ordered Riordan Parnell to remain in Valls as temporary provisional governor.
All four were found guilty and sentenced to be exiled to Vaasa, the land they had served with their treason, for
the rest of their lives. They were taken by an armed escort to the northern end of Bloodstone Pass and ordered
to ride into Vaasa on Dead Man’s Walk. The armed escort observed their Vaasan journey until they vanished
from sight. They never were seen again.
Many members of the Arcatan military viewed their defeat as a liberation. They too had been oppressed by
Duke William during Zhengyi’s reign. They were more than willing to join the Bloodstone paladin in his war.
About 700 of his host marched southward behind the Bloodstone Army, and another 300 Arcatan soldiers joined
the host as it marched toward Carmathan.
The Duke of Carmathan, Helmont XIV, was one of Zhengyi’s more talented puppets. During the time of
Helmont XIII, when he simply was the duke’s cousin, Dashard Devlin, he had entertained no dreams of ever
taking his cousin’s seat. However, when assassins killed most of Damara’s nobility in the Year of the Prince
(1357 DR), he was the only member of the noble Devlin family allowed to survive. Zhengyi offered Dashard the
duchy in return for his fealty.
Dashard understood that the folk of Carmathan was a proud independent lot. The new duke quickly built a
propaganda network within the duchy that succeeded in convincing the people that Carmathan continued to
remain independent of Zhengyi and that all hardships in the duchy were caused by the failings of the other
Damaran provinces who had buckled under.
The Bloodstone uprising worried Helmont XIV, however, because all attempts to quell it had failed. His concern
was not for Zhengyi nor for the Citadel but rather for the seat of his own pants. He assumed that Baron Gareth,
if he remained victorious, would attempt to claim the vacant Damaran Throne. That doubtless would mean the
end of his own tenure as duke.
Thus, the duke waited for his chance to strike at Baron Gareth when he thought he was weakest. He knew of
the plans of Duke William of Arcata to attack the Bloodstone forces. Regardless of how the battle with Arcata
came out, Helmont assumed that Baron Gareth’s troops would be seriously weakened after the battle and that
he could easily win the day were he to attack with a large force while the foe was recuperating.
Leading his own forces, Helmont was unaware of the speed and the light casualties with which the Bloodstone
Army had defeated the Arcatans or, for that matter, even how the battle had come out. Helmont knew only that
1,200 armed men had left Bloodstone Village. He assumed his own host had the numerical superiority by 50%.
He led 1,800 fighting men northward.
The two armies at last met and clashed in what now is known as the Battle of Three Borders. The fight took
place upon the Brandiar Moor, 40 miles/64 km north of Arcatan Valls, where the borders of Arcata and
Carmathan met with the border of fallen Brandiar.
Duke Helmont was dismayed to see that his was the smaller force. With the 1,000 Arcatans who had followed
Baron Gareth, the Bloodstone Army number well over 2,000. However, the Carmathians had been convinced
that Baron Gareth was on his way to invade and conquer their duchy, and they fought with the full fury of men
defending their homes.
The Carmathians surrendered only after three days of bloody battle and after the death of Duke Helmont, who
died at the end of a lightning bolt fired by Emelyn the Grey. Of the 1,800 Carmathan warriors who rode out with
the late duke, only 600 survived. The Bloodstone Army lost several hundred men as well. In the aftermath of
the surrender, however, the Bloodstone Army also gained more than 100 followers from the Carmathan
survivors.
While simple folk had been easily swayed by Duke Helmont's propaganda, the more educated took a dim view
of his railing against the Barony of Bloodstone. Before the fall of the Damaran kingdom in the Year of the
Prince (1357 DR), Impiltur had been Carmathan's prime trading partner. Most important Carmathan
businessmen wanted to see that trade resumed as soon as possible, and indeed, some business already was
being conducted again in the Year of the Serpent (1359 DR).
However, it had been made clear to traders and businessmen in Ravensburg that Baron Gareth was a friend of
the Impilturian crown. They also understood that if Carmathan took hostile action against the Bloodstone
Barony, it would earn Impiltur as an enemy too. That would mean among other things the end of all business
dealings with Carmathan and the closure of Impiltur's borders to businessmen and traders from Carmathan.
Therefore, there also was strong opposition to Duke Helmont's war plans in Ravensburg and within the
Carmathan Army. Thus, some preferred to follow Baron Gareth rather than return to the probable chaos of their
now rulerless capital. The surviving Carmathians also were surprised to be freed by Baron Gareth, and they
were equally surprised to see that the Bloodstone Army had no desire to march against Carmathan.
If Baron Gareth could have operated with a free hand, he would have appointed Celedon Kierney to be
provisional governor of Carmathan until a new government could be formed. However, two other things were
troubling him. The Bloodstone Army needed to return home. The longer its defensive force at home remained
weak, the more likely that the pass would be subjected to another plot.
In addition, Baron Gareth's spies brought him word that an alliance had been formed in southern Damara, and it
too had begun marching against him. The puppet baron of Morov, Dimian Ree, also had been watching the
situation with Arcata and Carmathan.
Ree, whose mother was a descendant of the royal Bloodfeathers line, had every intention of one day becoming
king of Damara, but he knew that two others also could make a claim for the throne that was just as valid as his
own - retired Bloodstone Baron Tranth and his daughter, Lady Christine Dragonsbane.
Ree was not worried about losing the potential throne to either of them. But if Lady Christine were to claim and
gain the queenship, her husband, Baron Gareth, would be king. Damaran law in such a case allowed the
queen to turn the rule over to her husband, the king, who was a monarch then in every right but one, just like
the direct descendants of Feldrin Bloodfeathers had been.
Only the royal line of inheritance was beyond the claim of such a king. All of his own descendants could inherit
the crown, because Bloodfeathers blood flowed in their veins, but other Dragonsbane family members not
descendent from Gareth could make no royal claims.
Herein lay the worry of Dimian Ree. Baron Gareth was becoming increasingly popular in Damara because of
his victories against the Witch King, while many cast a disapproving glance at Dimian Ree. It was whispered
openly in the streets of Heliogabalus and Morovar that Baron Dimian, placed in his position by Zhengyi, was a
servant of Zhengyi, an ally of assassins and a cohort of thieves. All three rumors were true.
On the latter point, Ree was the cousin (father's side without Bloodfeathers blood) of Tarkos Ree, head of the
Tightpurse Thieves Guild. Those who knew of or suspected any of the baron's fell connections wanted him to
be removed as baron rather that to become king.
Ree knew he had no hope for gaining the Throne as long as the Tranths and Baron Gareth lived. He also
believed that there was no more apt time to relieve the baron and the Tranths of their lives than at a time when
the paladin and his army were worn from two major battles - against Arcata and Carmathan. However, the
Baron of Morov also tended to play only those cards he considered safe.
Morov formed an alliance with two other puppets of Zhengyi in the South, with Baroness Sylvia of Ostel and
with Baron Zorth of Polten, a weak man who controlled only the populous parts of Polten in the vicinity of Lake
Mogador. The areas around Lenchford and Tellerth never came into Zhengyi's grip, nor did the military of
Polten dare venture into these areas.
Between the three baronies, Dimian Ree managed to raise a mostly rag-tag force of 2,200 warriors to send
against Baron Gareth. Ree, Baroness Sylvia of Ostel and Baron Zorth of Polten remained behind. While the
Bloodstone Army was fighting in northeastern Arcata, the first unit of 1,000 soldiers, all from Polten, had
reached the Impilturian outpost at Windless, where it came to a bloody dead halt. The Impilturian archers were
well able to take out any and all soldiers of Ree's alliance who were within range. The road into Bloodstone
Road was within range.
Polten’s troops were forced to detour over the Plain of Goliad, where they were guided by the bandit army of the
Grandfather of Assassins past the Bloodstone Mines and down into the pass. Both at the mines and in the
gateway to Bloodstone Valley, the host was attacked by archers, incurring losses. The invaders then made the
mistake of crossing the Warren of the Waukeshire halflings, who caved the tunnel roofs in upon them as they
crossed them. With few losses on their own sides, the halflings slew more than 100 of Polten’s soldiers and
took the rest, nearly 900 in number, prisoner.
Ree’s strategy plan called for the smaller host from Polten to march into the ill-defended Bloodstone Pass,
conquer it and then head to the southern opening of the pass and wait for the Bloodstone Army to march
through.
The larger contingent of 1,200 ill-trained and oft unmotivated men from Morov and Ostel remained hidden in
enemy territory on the Plain of Goliad with orders to attack the Bloodstone Army from the rear as soon as Sir
Gareth’s troops began riding through the mountain walls into the pass. Ree believed the Bloodstone Army
would be tired, battle weary and easy to defeat, pinched between two fronts of a larger force in the narrow pass.
Things took a different course. Rather than 1,000 warriors from Polten, a respectable force of Waukeshire
halflings and Orothiar dwarves waited inside the pass to handle any enemy soldiers who might manage to
escape the arrows of the Impilturian archers in Windless. But they were left on that day with no work to do.
As the Bloodstone Army entered the mountain ravine leading into Bloodstone Pass, the troops from Morov and
Ostel stormed out of the Plain of Goliad, to be met by a rain of Impilturian arrows they had not expected,
because they knew nothing of Windless or the fortification there. When the Bloodstone Army heard the sounds
of battle behind it, Baron Gareth ordered his troops to turn back and stormed down then upon the surprised
soldiers from Morov and Ostel.
The invaders found themselves outnumbered 2-to-1 by an army of furious, experienced warriors, most of whom
had had their full of traitors attackers from other Damaran provinces. More than half of the host from Morov and
Ostel simply dropped its weapons and fled. The remainder surrendered before half an hour had passed.
Once the wounded of the Bloodstone Army had been healed, its priests turned their attention to the wounded
prisoners from Morov and Ostel, just as had been done earlier with the prisoners from Polten, who had been
allowed to camp under guard near Virden. The new prisoners also were brought to camp there. Lady Christine
and Olwen Forest-Friend also saw to it that the prisoners were fed as well as possible.
A few days after these so-called Bloodstone Wars had ended, Baron Gareth addressed the assembly of
prisoners, saying that they had been sent into a shameful war by cowardly puppet nobles who had been put into
positions of power by their common enemy, Zhengyi, the Witch King of Vaasa, instead of being sent to join his
army to free Damara of Zhengyi’s yoke.
Baron Gareth told the prisoners they were free men again and could return to their homes, but he urged them to
take up their swords upon their return to fight for their own freedom, just as the Barony of Bloodstone had done.
The speech was quite effective. Some 900 of Dimian Ree’s soldiers remained in Bloodstone to join its army.
Many others returned home, seriously undermining the power of Dimian Ree in Morov and Baroness Sylvia in
Ostel. Zorth was forced out as baron of Polten. Baron Gareth also had recalled Riordan Parnell from the
provisional governorship of Arcata. Instead, as a victor, he elevated the Burgomaster of Valls, a loyalist named
Taran as the new duke, raising him to nobility, although Taran’s title was not recognized for a few years outside
of Baron Gareth’s alliance.
There were those in Bloodstone Village who counseled Baron Gareth to march south again before the full fury
of winter would strike, to set up governments to his own liking in Carmathan, Morov, Ostel and Polten, all of
which he had defeated.
However, the paladin shared the viewpoint of old Baron Tranth and Friar Dugald, that the threat continued to lie
in the north, in the Citadel of the Assassins and in Castle Perilous. Until the Citadel and Zhengyi both had been
destroyed, Damara could know no peace. Baron Gareth believed he could bring about the fall of the citadel, but
he had no idea what to do with Zhengyi. So he took one thing at a time.
Olwen Forest-Friend already had found the way to the Citadel of Assassins high in the Galenas. In the first
days of Marpenoth, the baron appointed his wife Lady Christine, her father and Riordan Parnell to handle the
affairs of state. He set out with the other five members of his fellowship of seven and 45 handpicked men of the
Bloodstone Army, several of them rangers, to destroy the Citadel of Assassins.
Before the tenday was out, the battle was joined, perhaps the fiercest of all since the fall of the king in the Battle
of Goliad. Brother Kane and the Grandfather of Assassins met in battle, each wounding the other to the brink of
death. In the end the Grandfather died. Without the healing magic of Friar Dugald, Kane probably would have
met his end on that day too.
Nearly half of the Bloodstone troop died that day. Almost all of the assassins fell, but three of its most important
occupants escaped: The epic archmage Knellict, the commanding general of the Grandfather’s bandit army
Timoshenko and the half elven Cat One-Eye. She was the only surviving epic level assassin among the former
monks of the citadel.
Knellict used his magic to teleport himself to a hideout elsewhere in the Galenas. None knew how Timoshenko
or Cat One-Eye escaped. After the victory of the Bloodstone Army, Emelyn the Grey and other Bloodstone
magi used their spells to destroy the surface levels of the citadels, although the dungeons remained intact.
Baron Gareth and the survivors from his company had been back in Bloodstone Village for only a few days
when the message he dreaded most had come. He learned that Zhengyi had mobilized his Vaasan host of
giants and goblinkind, and it was marching down Dead Man’s Walk, apparently prepared to overrun Damara.
Neither he nor any of his counselors had any idea how to counter such a host, so they simply dug in, prepared
to fight to the death, not expecting to survive.
Bloodstone’s only ray of hope was a message sent by the Impilturian general Haelimbrar in Windless to
Archwand Daerthnur in Ilmwatch asking fir Impilturian help. The only power in the Cold Lands capable of facing
a host of 200,000 and defeating was the combined Sword and Wand of Impiltur with its arsenal of powerful
magic from old Narfell.
Both the Regent Kyrlraun and Queen Sambryl were in fact prepared to do just that. Both were certain that
Zhengyi’s host of 200,000 giants, ogres, orcs and goblins eventually would move on to the Great Dale and
Impiltur, were it allowed to take Damara unchecked. But Impiltur was unwilling to invade Damara before the
potential threat had become a reality.
Neither Bloodstone nor Ilmwatch and Lyrabar were aware of it, but another important element in the Cold Lands
now found that its special interests were in danger, and it too was preparing to act. That element was the Iron
Throne in the person of its Cold Lands leader, the epic wizardess Shandaril in Heliogabalus.
Zhengyi and the Citadel of Assassins along with the Bloodstone Wars had brought Damara exactly to the point
where it could best serve the Iron Throne. The entire Damaran infrastructure was in shambles, giving the
Throne the ability to covertly build a new infrastructure. The victories of the Bloodstone Army were restoring
Damarans’ confidence, it bringing to the point where they were ready to begin reconstruction. And Baron
Gareth had saved the nation’s most important asset in the Throne’s eyes, the Bloodstone Mines, from
destruction.
The only fly in the Throne’s ointment was Zhengyi, the Vaasan Witch King. The host of 200,000 goblinkind and
giants that were marching toward Damara were certain to destroy it, making Shandaril’s work for naught. She
saw no possibility for the Baron of Bloodstone to stop this destructive tide, and she was unaware of Impiltur’s
invasion plans.
Thus, Shandaril decided that she must stop Zhengyi’s army herself, and she believed that she had the tool with
which to do it, the Tower of Feeblemindedness that she had taken from the ruins of the rebel Imaskari
settlement of Severny Tajemstvi.
Zhengyi had ordered his army to bypass Bloodstone Pass and instead cross the Galenas over the passes that
the Citadel of Assassins had used. The Baron of Bloodstone already had upset too many of the Witch King’s
plans. The lich and Orcus, who steered him, had no desire to have the host blocked for weeks at the northern
entrance to Bloodstone Pass.
Instead, they intended to overrun the rest of Damara and save Bloodstone Pass for the end, when it would be
squeezed to death on all sides by the massive Vaasan army.
The Vaasan host already had come pouring down the Galenas and onto the Plain of Goliad when Shandaril
teleported herself and her consort Titus Traud to a peak of the Galenas above the site of the ruins of the Citadel
of Assassins. There, they erected the Tower of Feeblemindedness and she began empowering it, ordering it to
feeblemind all of the Vaasan monster army.
Even artifacts have their limits. The feebleminding of 200,000 giants, ogres, orcs and goblins was beyond the
ability of the Tower of Feeblemindedness, which also was an imperfect artifact that never had been completed
by its Imaskari makers.
Although Zhengyi’s host was not feebleminded by its magic, the tower did cause strong effects. Confusion, an
inability to concentrate, distrust and a small dose of fear ran through the minds of Zhengyi’s monster army,
causing its actions to become totally chaotic and leading different monster bands to begin quarreling and even
fighting with one another.
The magic of the artifact had another serious effect: Shandaril had been reduced to a drooling, blabbering idiot.
In the ranks of evil, to which she had belonged, most partners would have robbed her of her possessions and
left her there in the mountains to die. But Traud was truly in love with Shandaril. He had been taught how to
use her Ring of Mass Teleportation. With it, he brought the two of them safely back to Heliogabalus.
Despite the effects of the tower and many losses, the horse of chaotic monsters from Damara managed to pour
across the Ford of Goliad and begin heading toward the Damaran population center on Lake Goliad. The
Bloodstone Army fought hard, but the sheer mass of Zhengyi’s force had driven it at first back westward from
the ford.
In the last tenday of Marpenoth, however, the Bloodstone forces managed to circle around the vanguard of
Zhengyi’s confused troops in the south and push them back across the ford. However, once the foe had
reached the other side of the Beaumaris, the Bloodstone forces could make no new gains. The ford was the
only place where either side could cross the river. It was too narrow for a large force to cross at once. Despite
the chaos, Zhengyi’s archers slew any Damarans who reached the opposite side.
As a result, Zhengyi’s host was boxed in within the crude ellipse formed by the Galenas, the Goliad and the
Beaumaris, occupying all of fallen Brandiar and also a small corner of Soravia between occupied Helmsdale
and Ironspur. The war had come to a standstill, although arrows took a toll from both sides daily.
In mid-Uktar, winter struck. Baron Gareth and Friar Dugald both felt that the war needed to be resolved quickly
or the tide would turn against Damara. Neither knew what magic or power was confusing Zhengyi’s host, but
both knew that it could end at any time. In addition, there was no doubt that both the Goliad and the Beaumaris
soon would freeze over, and then Zhengyi’s hordes would be able to pour into Damara despite their chaos.
The only means to win the war, Baron Gareth and his fellowship concluded, was to eliminate its cause, and that
meant destroying Zhengyi. They left the Bloodstone Army in the hands of its leading commanders, making the
reasons for their departure known, and then they departed northward, homeward, to pass through Bloodstone
Valley and beyond, into the frigid Vaasan Plain.
The way into Castle Perilous was difficult, but it doubtless would have been impossible if Zhengyi’s hordes had
not been engaged in Brandiar. The band encountered nothing at all in Vaasa until coming within three
miles/5 km of Zhengyi’s fortress. Baron Gareth and his followers were not aware that it existed, but a magical
eye atop Zhengyi’s castle had spotted them and alerted a white dragon and a band of 18 patrolling demons to
their presence. They destroyed their attackers, but the band desperately needed healing and was forced to
take shelter overnight in a ravine, hidden from other powerful watchers.
Perhaps the mission would have ended there, had Zhengyi been sitting upon his throne and concentrating upon
the things that were happening within his kingdom. But he was occupied at the time with another threat. A
large band of drow followers of Kiaransalee had been scouting the Underdark near Castle Perilous, unaware
that it existed, making preparations for the revival of a temple to honor their deity.
The dark elves had come upon parts of Zhengyi’s dungeons and were exploring them. The Witch King and
Orcus who steered him had been unaware that there also were intruders on the surface. Zhengyi was
attempting to hunt the drow, not knowing what they were, because Orcus feared that the rival devils or baatezu
might have learned what he was doing in Vaasa and had opened a gate below to destroy his own. Only the lich
form of Zhengyi was fully capable of dealing with such a threat.
Thus, with considerable trouble, the fellowship of seven at last made it into Castle Perilous, only to find
Zhengyi’s throne room empty. The band members searched the castle and fought undead and more demons
that were on patrol, before at last finding their way to a large mercury pool which was the growing gate to the
Abyss which Zhengyi had made to gate Orcus into the Realms.
The pool was well guarded with demons that were dispatched only with considerable difficulty. After the battle,
however, the members of the fellowship were a bit perplexed. They didn’t know what to do next. At that point,
the platinum dragon deity Bahamut appeared in a vision before the group and told it what is necessary to
destroy Zhengyi.
He said the group had chosen an almost impossible task, because the destruction of Zhengyi’s physical
manifestation would be meaningless. As long as Zhengyi’s phylactery survived, Bahamut said, it could be used
repeatedly, to restore the Witch King over and over again in a new form. He also said the fellowship never
would find the phylactery, because it was hidden somewhere in the Abyss.
Bahamut said there was one other possible means of destroying Zhengyi, but it was almost as impossible. He
said that Zhengyi’s spirit had become so entwined with Orcus that the Witch King would be eliminated forever, if
Orcus were destroyed. He said that Baron Gareth’s party lacked the power to do that in direct combat, but
there was another way.
Orcus would be destroyed for some period of time, Bahamut said, if the band were to steal his powerful wand
und slay the avatar of a deity with it. If the group chose to do this, Bahamut said, he could offer some slight
help. He said if the group obtained the wand, he would immediately gate all of its members into another plane
where an avatar of Bahamut's arch enemy, the evil dragon goddess Tiamat was recovering from battles in the
southern Realms.
There, he said, they could attempt to slay the avatar with the wand, which in turn would destroy both Orcus and
Zhengyi. If they succeeded, Bahamut said, he would see to it that the survivors of the battle with the avatar
were gated safely back to Bloodstone Village. But before departing, he said, the band must bring back the
jewel from within the Wand of Orcus.
All seven said they were prepared to attempt the deed. Bahamut then told them that the gate into the Abyss
was the pool of mercury. All they needed to do was jump in. They did just that and found themselves
immediately in the Realm of Orcus, also the Realm of the Undead, where each of the band members found
himself on death's door more than once, as they battled their way through demons and undead and into the
abysmal Castle of Orcus.
There they eventually fought their way into his throne room, where Celedon Kierney succeeded in stealing
Orcus' mighty wand. That done, the Bloodstone fellowship attempted what was doomed to be a futile flight from
the 33rd level of the Abyss, with Orcus and a large host of demons on their heels. At exactly that time, however,
Bahamut kept his word, and the members of the fellowship were whisked away to another locale in the planes.
The adventurers had been gated by the platinum dragon to a location near Tiamat's lair in Avernus on the plane
of Baator. At that time, Tiamat was a much weakened goddess, having just survived her deadly battles with the
Untheric god Gilgeam. Her last surviving avatar was resting in her lair, when Baron Gareth Dragonsbane and
his band broke in, catching the avatar unprepared and piercing its body with the Wand of Orcus.
However, no member of the band experienced what happened then, because Bahamut had whisked all of them
to his own domain in the Seven Heavens. There he explained that the fellowship had succeeded in destroying
Tiamat's last avatar, the manifestation of Orcus in the Abyss and, for all times, Zhengyi, the Witch King of
Damara.
Before sending the fellowship back to Bloodstone Village, Bahamut gave Baron Gareth the jewel from the Wand
of Orcus that Celedon Kierney had retrieved after stabbing the avatar. Bahamut told Baron Gareth to plant the
gem as though it were a seed in the courtyard of the Baronial Mansion in Bloodstone Village. From it, he said,
would grow a beautiful white tree that would bar demons from entering Bloodstone Pass as long as the barony
was ruled wisely.
Thus drew the Year of the Serpent to an end in Damara. In early Nightal, Baron Gareth and the six other
members of his fellowship materialized suddenly and to the surprise of old Baron Tranth and Lady Christine in
the baronial manor. Within the hour, they and the members of the fellowship were surprised a second time by
an Impilturian runner from Windless, who brought the news that Zhengyi's monster host on the Plain of Goliad
had suddenly and inexplicably broken out in a state of chaotic panic a few hours earlier and then bolted for the
Galenas in the North, trampling many of their own as they ran. It appeared that Brandiar was being evacuated.
Less than a tenday had passed when rangers brought mixed news to the Baronial Manor. They said that the
nearly 200,000 giants, ogres, orcs and goblins who had occupied the Plain of Goliad were fleeing now across
the frozen Vaasan plain and returning to the Western Galenas.
However, the rangers also reported that for the first time in many decades, the clouds concealing the peak of
Suncatcher Mountain had parted from time to time, revealing what looked like a fell castle atop the summit.
Castle Perilous, they said, had simply collapsed and now lay in a state of absolute ruin, but 13 white dragons
had begun gathering about the ruin, and at times they also flew to the mysterious castle above Suncatcher.
Baron Gareth had stationed a sizeable contingent of soldiers in the ruins of Castle Perilous to begin
investigating what evil, if any, remained in the ruins. The soldiers also had orders to destroy the tunnel leading
from the subterranean pool of mercury beneath the ruins into the Abyss.
The baron's troops had completed the later task and had only begun exploring the higher underground ruins
when the white dragons began arriving. About half of the baron's men in the ruins were slain in battle with the
dragons. The rest succeeded in fleeing back to the Barony of Bloodstone, but in part only because the dragons
did not pursue them.
The peace of winter in northern Damara was peace indeed. And yet, as the year ended, it also was troubled at
times by thoughts of the possible new threats that might be mounting in the ruins of Zhengyi's fortress and atop
Suncatcher.
3.4 Modern History

NOTE: Most of the material in this section is unofficial, although the majority of it is not in conflict
with official products. This unofficial section tells what occurred in Damara and Vaasa in the 12
years between the fall of Zhengyi the Witch King and the present.
1360 DR - Year of the Turret

In the closing months of winter, when travel in Damara was at a standstill, peace reigned at last, although many
heads plotted furiously the events that would take place in spring. The first of these was the departure in late
Ches of Haelimbrar and his disguised Impilturian troops back to their homeland. However, the war was past
now, and the Impilturians rode now using their own names and showing their true colors, those of the Sword
and Wand of Impiltur.
Hammer
Haelimbrar divided his soldiers into two groups that traveled slowly over roads used only infrequently on
snowed-in roads. The Impilturians' goods were carried on huge sleds drawn by draft horses. The group
Haelimbrar personally led rode directly to the Lake Mogador area, passing through Goliad and into Morovar,
urging folk along the way to rid themselves of fallen Zhengyi's puppets and to find themselves a decent leader
who again would be able to conduct trade with Impiltur. No one who had served Zhengyi would find an open
door in Impiltur, he said.
The same word was passed by the Impilturians to the merchants of Heliogabalus, who understood it well.
During Zhengyi's time, the Baron of Morov, Dimian Ree, had claimed the heretofore Free City of Heliogabalus,
which had been the castle in the time of the kings, as a part of Morov, and he moved into the kings' castle there,
proclaiming it as the baronial seat and Heliogabalus as the baronial seat of Morov.
The merchants of Heliogabalus, who were more powerful than Ree, raised no objection because the move was
merely cosmetic and had no effect upon them. Haelimbrar's message, on the other hand, told them quite
clearly that they needed to get rid of Ree or find Impiltur - and therefore 95% of their market - closed to them.
The Damaran Merchants League gave Ree an ultimatum: Leave Heliogabalus with a tenday or be removed
physically.
Two days after Haelimbrar's departure from the city, Dimian Ree and his court relinquished their claims to the
capital and fled frightened back to the baronial estate in Morovar, reinstating the lake city as the baronial seat of
Morov. Members of the Merchants League watched the move, saw to it that nothing was taken from the king's
castle that did not belong to Ree, insisted on compensation for missing items Ree could not find and then began
cleaning up the castle and maintaining it for the seemingly likely day in a not too distant future when a new king
would reign again.
Haelimbrar's second flank rode over Arcatan Valls to Ravensburg in Carmathan, bearing a similar message.
The troop then returned further northward to Praka in Ostel, repeating its tidings and warnings anew, before
meeting up with Haelimbrar's flank in Heliogabalus. Polten's populace too was warned about continuing to deal
with the Witch King's minions. It was mentioned that the Impilturian border could be closed to trade with the
duchy.
Tellerth and Lenchford had thrown puppet Duke Donlevy's troops out of town and continued refusing to
acknowledge the rule of Polten, even after the return of the rightful inheriting Baron Donlevy the Young.
Haelimbrar's host visited both settlements, but it made no threats there, instead thanking the locals for their
loyalty to law and order.
Haelimbrar returned to Impiltur bearing special treasures. Few eyes have seen the scrolls found by King Gareth
in Zhengyi's dungeon, but the queen's library tells among other things of an Imaskari artifact known as the
Konundroos of Orcus.
According to the description, this artifact was empowered by Orcus to automatically bind a seemingly limitless
number of tanar'ri below Balor level and summon them from the Abyss. It is unknown whether this artifact lost
its power with Orcus' destruction, as was the case with the Orb of Orcus in the Land of the Lich Lords.
If not, the Impilturian Queen Sambryl and her paladin war captains believe that it well may be the most
dangerous object in the Realms. Its exact location is not known, but scrolls found by Baron Gareth suggest that
it is hidden in a subterranean vault somewhere in the vicinity of a known Imaskari ruin in the Endless Wastes.
At the time of his fall, Zhengyi had been preparing an expedition that was to have retrieved the Konundroos for
him. Once the situations atop Suncatcher Mountain and in the ruins of Castle Perilous have been cleaned up,
Impiltur plans to mount a similar expedition, with the goal of destroying the Konundroos.
Before Haelimbrar's departure, Baron Gareth turned the Imaskari scrolls over to Haelimbrar, for permanent
safekeeping with the Impilturian queen. The baron told Haelimbrar that Damara still was too unstable to protect
such dangerous information properly. He believed the Imaskari scrolls were best protected in the hands of
Impilturian Queen Sambryl.
The Impilturian general left Damara convinced that he would return again. The situations on Suncatcher
Mountain and in the ruins of Castle Perilous promised further warfare, although no one was quite sure who the
enemy might be. Most guessed that the church of Tiamat was involved, that it was seeking revenge for the
destruction of the avatar of the goddess.
Whatever the identity of the castle’s inhabitants might be, it was clear that there was a bond between them and
the growing number of dragons lairing in the ruins of Zhengyi’s castle. Haelimbrar believed the newcomers
posed no less a threat to Impiltur than to Damara, although Damara probably would be their first target.
In the first three months of the year, there was little new in Damara. As usual, deep frost and heavy snow
limited travel and trade. It was a time instead for planning, scheming and debating. It also was the time when
some members of the fellowship began going separate ways in the baron’s service. Bloodstone Village was no
exception. There were many in the barony, including Celedon Kierney, Riordan Parnell and Emelyn the Grey,
who argued that Baron Gareth should move with the first thaw, bring Carmathan, Polten and Morov under his
rule and claim the throne of Damara.
The Impilturian Rulmgar had been serving Baron Gareth as Burgomaster of Windless. Shortly after
Haelimbrar’s departure, the baron named a replacement and recalled Rulmgar to Bloodstone Village, appointing
him finance minister of the barony. From this time until his return home at Queen Sambryl’s request in the Year
of the Tankard (1370 DR), Rulmgar had been an eighth member of the fellowship. He sided with Kierney,
Parnell and Emelyn in urging the baron to bring all of Damara under his rule and claim the throne.
Friar Dugald, Brother Kane and old Baron Tranth argued that Damara needed no more troop movements and
claims of power. The Duke of Arcata whom Baron Gareth had appointed already had sworn to ally itself to the
Barony of Bloodstone. Brandiar was a nearly vacant land that the barony had conquered, and it now was the
barony’s duty to re-establish it. Many of Zhengyi’s orcs and goblins still were in Soravia and needed to be
driven out.
Dugald, Kane and the old baron argued that Carmathan, Ostel and Morov were strongly dependent upon
Impiltur for trade and that the three provinces could not hold out long against an Impilturian boycott, which is
what they faced as long as they opposed the Barony of Bloodstone. In addition, the populations of all three
provinces had turned against their rulers or were in the process of doing so. Time, they said, was a gentler tool
suited to bring the kingdom back together.
Lady Christine and Olwen Forest-Friend sided with them, adding that particular priority must be given to the
restoration of the wounded forests and meadows of Soravia and plating forest in Brandiar, if these lands ever
were to be healthy and productive again. Baron Gareth chose the latter side.
He said he thought it would be unwise to take up arms against Dimian Ree and his cohorts, because Ree was
of noble blood. He said he agreed that the economic problems faced by Carmathan, Morov, Ostel and Polten
would lead to the fall of Ree and Baroness Sylvia and eventually also would bring Carmathan into Bloodstone’s
fold.
Emelyn the Grey said the baron could be right, but success was dependent in part on the degree to which the
common folk of these provinces were friendly to Bloodstone. The people of these provinces had been
subjected to propaganda directed against Baron Gareth, the mage argued. Any capitulation by the southerners
– regardless of whether for military or economic reasons – well could be viewed as a takeover on Gareth’s part.
Emelyn argued that a more stable kingdom would be formed if it had the support of all of Damara’s folk. If the
baron was unwilling to claim the South immediately, he said, attempts should be made to create a friendly
attitude for the future. He suggested that a group of good will ambassadors be sent into the South and
volunteered to form that group himself. Thus were the Twilight Riders born.
Alturiak
The Twilight Riders left Bloodstone Village in late Alturiak and began spreading the good word over the Baron of
Bloodstone in every village, hamlet and settlement of Morov, Ostel, Carmathan and Polten. The new fellowship
of seven included Emelyn’s apprentice Gabrielle, a low level wizard; Myrddin Viligoth, a high level mage who is
an old friend of Emelyn; the dwarven Prince Tamal, son of Orothiar Thane Tokan; Justin M’Dael, a middle level
paladin of Ilmater who is a long-time friend of Baron Gareth; Tamarin Moonwisher, a ranger and M’Dael’s bride-
to-be, and Algareth, a nomadic high level paladin of Ilmater who really was Haelimbrar, returned in magical
disguise as an agent of Queen Sambryl, there to influence the Damarans and to report the mood and state of
affairs regularly to Lyrabar.
The Twilight Riders were a successful venture. They covered most of Morov, Ostel, Carmathan and Polten,
before each of the provinces finally fell into Baron Gareth’s fold. During that time, they earned a widespread
reputation as folk that righted wrongs as they crossed the land. And they had no fear at driving off evil servants
of the corrupt lords who ruled in Morov, Ostel and Carmathan. Such practices were rare in Polten, which
already was in transition from its status in Zhengyi's time.
In Alturiak, Baron Gareth appointed a popular farmer named Dormythyrr as the new Baron of Brandiar and
Olwen Forest-Friend as Duke of Soravia. The first appointment drew little negative attention. The Barony of
Bloodstone had conquered Brandiar back from Zhengyi’s hordes. The Ducal House Brandebury had been
eliminated completely by Zhengyi.
During Brandiar’s occupation, Dormythyrr had assumed the stewardship of the duchy to serve the few humans
who remained during the occupation and survived it. As the victor, Baron Gareth was acceded the right to claim
and rule Brandiar as he wished, and Dormythyrr seemed a logical choice, even if it was strange for Gareth to
continue accepting the rank of barony for Bloodstone while appointing higher level dukes for Arcata and
Brandiar.
Many eyebrows were raised, however, over the appointment of Olwen Forest-Friend as Duke of Soravia. The
Bloodstone Army had not been active in Soravia. The province was, in fact, still overrun by remnants of
Zhengyi's monster army. On the other hand, no one other than Olwen Forest-Friend was both interested in
claiming Soravia and able to do the job, so, the appointment never was contested by more than tongues.
Other forces were active in this time too. Titus Traud, the consort of the Iron Throne mage Shandaril, had
requested that high powered magi be sent secretly to Heliogabalus to reverse the magic of the Tower of
Feeblemindedness that had turned her into a babbling idiot.
They arrived in late Alturiak, departing ship in Lyrabar and then riding in sleds over Impiltur northward.
However, once they were in the free city, they found that the healing of the magical damage under which the
wizardess was suffering was beyond the ability of their spells. They said divine magic was needed too. Traud
sent a messenger off to the House of the Master's Shadow, the great to Mask in Telflamm in the South, offering
an incredible fortune for the healing of his lover. Traud did not betray Shandaril's identity to the temple of Mask,
nor was the Iron Throne mentioned.
The defeat of Zhengyi did not escape the attention of the Harpers or the various powers in the Moonsea region.
The deep winter and heavy snows that still lay upon the Bloodstone Lands made it impossible to launch major
expeditions at that time, but the Zhentarim in Zhentil Keep, agents of the cities of Melvaunt and Mulmaster and
the Harpers also sent scouting parties into snowy Vaasa in Alturiak.
All of the various factions were interested in staking a claim in Vaasa to prevent its annexation by Damara. The
Moonsea interests all wanted to establish their own trade systems without interference from the Damaran
government. The Harpers were concerned that a huge nation encompassing Damara and Vaasa might be
formed, one that well could merge with Impiltur in the future.
The Harpers oppose such empires because they usually corrupt in short order and then tend to represent
special or evil interests, restricting the freedom of the individual, which the Harpers represent. This philosophy
also is the reason why the Harpers and the Kingdom of Cormyr in the West never have had a truly friendly
relationship.
Ches
Baron Gareth already was supplied with adequate worries in the knowledge that something evil was brewing
upon Suncatcher Mountain and that it was connected to the growing number of dragons gathering at the ruins
of Castle Perilous in Vaasa, but rangers from the East Galenas and messengers coming from Duke Olwen of
Soravia added another to his list in earl Ches.
A new bandit army - smaller than its predecessor but still large enough to cause trouble - had arisen
somewhere in the East Galenas. The bandits called themselves members of the Citadel of Assassins. After
some members of the bandits had been captured, the rangers and the Soravians learned through questioning
that the old commanding general of the Grandfather's bandit army, Timoshenko, had reunited the members of
the old bandit army who had flown into the mountains.
Timoshenko, the prisoners said, now claimed the seat of the Grandfather of Assassins. He was assisted, as
had been his predecessor, by the epic archmage Knellict and by the half-elven lady assassin Cat One-Eye.
Furthermore, the captives said, Grandfather Timoshenko had erected a new Citadel of Assassins somewhere in
the mountains. However, the captives' description of how to reach the new citadel was barely understandable,
and through some magic that apparently had been laid upon them, the captives grew confused when they
attempted to lead the baron's patrols to the new citadel site.
Celedon Kierney and Riordan Parnell decided to make the Citadel of Assassins their mission. They formed an
organization they called Spysong. It consisted of the two half-elves, Brother Kane, 15 bard friends of Riordan
Parnell who had joined the Bloodstone Army and 50 thieves and fighters trained by Celedon Kierney and a
network of warriors and rangers. Spysong declared its main goal as the finding and destruction of the new
citadel. Thus, three more members of the fellowship departed to fulfill new responsibilities elsewhere in
Damara.
At the beginning of the month, no lesser a person than Lord Master Most Hidden Jalaunthar Ithbreeiur, head
priest of the House of the Master's Shadow, arrived in Shandaril's home, Bethlraun's Manor, in Heliogabalus,
teleported there along with two lesser priests of the Shadowlord, to help the Sembian magi restore a lady
identified only as the mistress of Titus Traud. After more than two tendays of work, the priests and magi at last
had restored Shandaril to her former state of mental health.
Ithbreeiur had no doubt that he was dealing with someone more important than the Madeleine Tiegarth his
patient claimed to be, but he did not learn her true identity. However, he and his fellow priests noted all possible
details of Traud's mansion for future use by possible unannounced night visitors from the House of the Master's
Shadow.
Once the revived Shandaril learned the state of events in Damara from Traud, she went to work immediately.
The situation from her point of view was ideal for establishing the Iron Throne as the secret power that
controlled Damara. It was high time that she begin her work.
Tarsakh
When Tarsakh came, only three of the eight fellowship members remained in Bloodstone Village: Baron
Gareth, Friar Dugald and Rulmgar, the barony's finance minister. The others came to Bloodstone Village once
monthly, to confer in council.
During the first of the Bloodstone Councils, late in Tarsakh, Baron Gareth at last unveiled his plans. He said
that Impiltur would exert tremendous pressure upon Ostel, Morov and Carmathan to rid themselves of their
corrupt governments. He said he expected all three governments to fall before the year’s end.
The baron said Impiltur would deal more gently with Polten. The southernmost barony already was faced with
severe problems. In the Year of the Spur (1357 DR), Baron Donlevy the Old and all known surviving relatives
had been assassinated. Unknown to Zhengyi, his son, Donlevy the Young, had been spirited off to hiding in
Tellerth, a settlement that Zhengyi’s minions never had visited. In the baronial seat, Trailsend, word had been
passed that the young baron had taken ill and died.
After the assassinations, Zhengyi had set Zorth up as the new baron. It became clear to Zorth that he had both
the advantage and disadvantage of being distant from Zhengyi’s minions. That worked to his advantage
because he could rule with much more of a free hand than the other puppets. The Grandfather of Assassins
was not inclined to send his followers regularly to the distant south to deal with a small barony like Polten.
This also had the disadvantage that Zorth could count upon little help from Zhengyi or the Grandfather when
troubles arose. Nothing underlined this fact so much as the absolute inaction from the North when both Tellerth
and Lenchford blockaded the roads north of their boundaries and refused to acknowledge Zorth as baron.
Zorth, in turn, took no action either against the rebellious settlements, to some extent, for the same reason as
Zhengyi and the Grandfather. Aggressive Vaasan activity could draw Impiltur into the war. Neither Zhengyi nor
the Grandfather wanted to face the Sword and Wand of Impiltur that point, with their ancient Narfelli magic, and
Zorth knew any conflict with the Lords of Imphras II would cost him his own neck.
When he joined with Baron Dimian Ree of Morov and Baroness Sylvia of Ostel in attacking the Bloodstone
Army during the Bloodstone Wars, his credit with the folk of Polten had run out. Few of Polten's soldiers had
returned from Bloodstone Pass, but those who did told how some were defeated in battle and the majority had
remained to join Baron Gareth in his battle against Zhengyi and the Citadel of Assassins.
Zorth no longer had an army to enforce his will. Leading figures in Trailsend traveled to Tellerth and brought the
14-year-old duke-in-hiding back to the baronial seat, declaring Zorth a usurper and intending to place Donlevy
the Young back in the baronial mansion where he belonged. They also were prepared and able to slay Zorth if
he stood in the way.
Zorth was not stupid enough to forfeit his own life in this manner. Instead, he immediately relinquished his claim
to the barony, acknowledged young Donlevy as the rightful duke, welcomed him with open arms and contended
that he had accepted the ducal appointment only in the belief that Donlevy the Young was dead. He said he
had tried to do his best for the duchy within the possibilities that the conquering Zhengyi had left open to him.
Zorth succeeded in winning the confidence of the young baron and gradually became his key advisor, to the
chagrin of many other leading citizens. But Donlevy the Young was the true heir of the ducal house BelMaris.
The people of the duchy were willing to give him time to find his own way.
For his part, Zorth was too smart to take sides. Due to the strategy of his erstwhile allies, he had lost his army
and his power. He was not about to do gratuitous favors for Dimian Ree or Baroness Sylvia, who now was
clinging desperately to Ree's coattails. Nor did he see any necessity to throw in immediately with the Barony of
Bloodstone. He advised Donlevy the Young to make neither enemies nor close friends but to keep his options
open. At the same time, aware of the warnings the Impilturians had left in their wake, Zorth began collecting all
of the wealth he could and making plans for vanishing quickly into exile, were that to become necessary.
The first trickle of Sembian immigrants began docking in New Sarshel and traveling up the Great Dale side of
Easting Reach into Damara. As far as the Damarans knew, the immigrants simply were people with money in
their pockets looking for an opportunity to make good investments.
In truth, all were agents of the Iron Throne, en route to Heliogabalus to begin taking over and infiltrating
businesses there. They docked in New Sarshel, received their further orders from agents of the Throne there in
its Easting Reach stronghold and then went to the Damaran capital, where they went to work for the covert
agents of Shandaril.
The wizardess was not satisfied to merely trust the monster tribes in the Galenas not to attack Damara again.
She wanted to be certain of it. The branch of the Iron Throne in Impilturian Hlammach had provided what she
needed to do the job. The Throne had paid a king's ransom to buy a copy of the 10th level Narfelli spell Ravel
Magic (see Version 8 of the Northern Journey Campaign Guide for details).
After her experiences with the Imaskari Tower of Feeblemindedness, Shandaril was unwilling to personally risk
casting a 10th level spell, but she convinced the leader of the Throne in Sembia, Dalton Krenn, to send a team of
Iron Throne archmagi from Sembia to work the spell together for her.
Shandaril did know, however, exactly what needed to be done to make the spell work. She, her consort Titus
Traud and the three Sembian magi teleported themselves into the Eastern Galenas where the Tower of
Feeblemindedness still stood, doing its job. Shandaril knew that it was just a matter of time before some other
mage would find and steal the flawed Imaskari artifact, if she did nothing to protect it.
Over a period of five days, the epic wizardess prepared and cast 15 deadly protective spells upon the artifact
and made each of the spells permanent. When she was done, the Sembian magi, who apparently had Tymora
and Mystra on their side that day, used the contraband 10th level spell successfully to ravel each of the 15 spells
inside one another, creating a protection that few magi in Faerûn - if any - could succeed in unraveling correctly.
The Tower of Feeblemindedness still stands in the Galenas today and still targets giants, ogres, orcs, goblins
and other goblinkind within a northern radius of 50 miles/80 km, making it unlikely that the enemy hordes in
Vaasa again will cross successfully into Damara to destroy or upset the Throne's business operations there.
Mirtul
In the Mirtul session of the Bloodstone Council, there was considerable dissension although not unfriendly in
nature. The theme went back to the slaying of Tiamat's avatar in the Year of the Serpent (1359 DR). As might
be expected of a dragon deity, the avatar had a huge treasure of diamonds and other valuable gemstones as
well as coins and other valuables in her lair.
Sir Gareth and his companions took as much wealth with them as they could, knowing that Damara would have
to be rebuilt after the war and could well use whatever wealth it could obtain. After returning to Bloodstone
Village, the seven companions discussed what to do with their personal shares of the treasure.
Friar Dugald reminded the group that he was a priest of Ilmater and said it was his duty to use a part of the
treasure he had taken to honor his deity. His specific intent was to build a cathedral to the Ilmatari deity St.
Dionysus in Goliad. After that had been financed, Friar Dugald said he would contribute the remainder of his
share to the Barony of Bloodstone's treasury.
Baron Gareth said that as a paladin of the Ilmatari Order of the Golden Cup, he felt that it was his duty to
express his thanks to his deity by building a monastery for the order in Bloodstone Pass, but that the remainder
of his loot also would be donated to the barony's treasury.
Emelyn the Grey said that he and the baroness were committed to restoring the home of the refugee centaurs
in the burned ruins of Warrenwood, and he intended to use a part of his share to finance that project, but he too
would commit the rest to the baronial treasury.
Olwen Forest-Friend said he was committed to the liberation and cleansing of Soravia. He was willing to place
his full share of the loot into the baronial treasury, with the understanding that the baron would be generous in
subsidizing the cleansing of the duchy.
Brother Kane said he felt obliged to contribute 20% of his share to the Ilmatari Monastery of the Yellow Rose, of
which he was a member, but the rest should go into the baronial treasury.
Celedon Kierney and Riordan Parnell contributed their full shares to the treasury.
As a result, the Barony of Bloodstone was a genuinely rich state despite the series of battles and wars it had
been through, but many of those who had contributed to the treasury had wanted their money to be used for the
reconstruction of all of Damara.
In Mirtul, Baron Gareth presented his plan for the protection of Damara against future attacks from Vaasa. The
baron proposed hiring thousands of humans and dwarves to build his Monastery of the Golden Cup, to be
financed by the baron alone, and two huge walls at the northern and southern entrances to Bloodstone Pass,
which Dragonsbane called the Vaasan and Damaran Gates. He said they would be world wonders for Faerûn
that would be financed by the general treasury.
The Damaran Gate was to span the three-mile/5 km span of the pass, stand 35 feet/10.5 m high and 20
feet/6 m thick. Watchtowers intended to hold 50 soldiers each were shown every 300 yards/meters along the
wall with a huge iron gate on the road. At the western end, the plan showed a large castle, Baron Gareth's
Monastery of the Golden Cup. A second castle with new trails and entryways into the Warren and the
Bloodstone Mines were shown at the eastern end of the wall. A total military force of 1,000 was foreseen to
permanently man the entire Damaran Gate.
The Vaasan Gate of the baron's plan spanned the narrower, half-mile/800 m wide northern mouth of the pass.
However, within that span, it was even more monumental than the Damaran Gate. The wall was to be 60
feet/18 m high and 30 feet/9 m thick. It too had a large iron gate spanning the road into and out of Damara with
a castle fortress at each end. A permanent military force of 500 was foreseen for the Vaasan Gate. The baron
had not planned a solid wall 30 feet/9 m thick. Instead, the interiors of the lower wall was to be hollow, offering
quarters to traders, merchants and craftsmen and also providing space for granaries.
The rest of the council viewed the plan with astonishment and skepticism. Quillan the Sage asked what the
purpose of the southern wall was, the Damaran Gate. Baron Gareth said that invaders who came into
Bloodstone Pass from the Galenas could be contained there and battled in an enclosed arena, rather than
being able to pour out of the pass and into Brandiar.
Quillan said he doubted that Baron Gareth's plan would work. He said it was more likely to lock in the
Bloodstone population during a time of war and keep it from fleeing if a truly huge invasion took place. He
pointed out that Zhengyi and the Grandfather of Assassins in most cases had launched their attacks from the
Galenas rather than being delayed by the comparatively modest defenses of the barony at the Vaasan entrance
to the pass.
Olwen Forest-Friend, who had yet to deliver his report on the status of monster-ridden Soravia, contended that
the proposed Damaran and Vaasan Gates would cause an incredible drain on the baronial treasury. The other
baronies and duchies were in dire need of financial help to restore what had been destroyed or abandoned in
Zhengyi's time.
Finance Minister Rulmgar and Olwen both reminded the council that the treasure taken from Tiamat's lair was
unique income, that Bloodstone would not be able to renew such funds once they were spent. Rulmgar said the
both the barony's income and that of Damara were far below the pre-war level and would remain so until all of
the mines had returned to production and bloodstone prices stabilized.
Only the Bloodstone Mines and those of the dwarves in Vaasan Hillsafar had been restored to production. The
current mine yield, he said, was at about 50% of the pre-war levels. To make the necessary investments to
restore Damara, the minister said Justin's Mine, Ironspur and other mines of the Galenas needed to be
cleansed of monsters who had been part of Zhengyi's and the Grandfather's army.
Rulmgar also pointed out that the Damaran budget always had been based largely upon the sale of bloodstone
bars that the Orothiar dwarves had produced for the kingdom. During Zhengyi's time, however, bloodstone
gained the reputation among simpler folk of being cursed, which curbed its use somewhat in trade. More
important, due to the uncertain future of bloodstone as a commodity, most states simply stopped buying more
for their reserves, while a few others hoarded what remained on the market, gambling that it would become rare
and rise in value.
The money markets outside of Damara and Impiltur still were watching what each other were doing and barely
buying what the reopened Bloodstone Mines were selling. Before the war, Rulmgar said, bloodstone bars had
an average market value of 25 gold talers each. After the reopening of the mines, the minister said, the market
price for a bloodstone bar had dropped to a fluctuating level between 12 and 15 gold talers.
Rulmgar said he suspected that construction of the Damaran and Vaasan Gates, as Baron Gareth had
proposed them, would cost more than the barony could pay, even if all of the treasure taken from the lair of
Tiamat's avatar were spent upon them. But even if the gates were built, there was too little foreseeable income
to pay for their maintenance or the size of army that the baron wanted to station within them.
Other questions also remained unanswered, Rulmgar said. Before any decisions were made, he urged that
consultations be made with Orothiar engineers determine whether the terrain actually could support such
mammoth constructions and, if it could, what it would cost to build them.
The council debated the matter of the walls for three days before any decisions were reached. Baron Gareth
withdrew his proposal for the southern Damaran Gate, which found no support from the council. There was
unanimous support for building a new wall at the Vaasan entrance to Bloodstone Pass, but most members
doubted that the massive wall the baron had proposed would be feasible.
Rulmgar thought it would be wise to build as large a wall as possible in the north and a small, patrolled wall in
the south. ´The latter, he said, would not hinder the people of Bloodstone Pass from fleeing, but it would give
Damara a chance to control the movements of bandits and smalltime smugglers between Damara and Vaasa.
Although such groups still could make a detour through the Galenas, the costs and risks of mountain travel
would be prohibitive for many bandits and smugglers.
The finance minister also mentioned reports of scouts from the Moonsea region having been in Vaasa. He said
Damara should make immediate moves to control what organizations like the Zhentarim and states of
questionable character like Mulmaster or Melvaunt might try to move into and out of Damara. Controls at both
ends of Bloodstone Pass would make illegal operations difficult he said.
Rulmgar, who was a distant relative of Impilturian Queen Sambryl, said he also believed that the Land of
Imphras, which was quite concerned about smuggling and the movement of contraband from the Moonsea
region, probably would be willing to financially subsidize walls that were effective in this respect.
At the end of the debate, Baron Gareth and the council agreed to have Rulmgar negotiate with the dwarves for
estimates of costs and to make engineering determinations of what was possible. He also was to contact
Impilturian authorities about possible financial support for construction of the Bloodstone walls.
Olwen Forest-Friend reported to the council that the situation in Soravia still was serious. After naming the
ranger as Duke of Soravia, Baron Gareth had assigned him a 200-man unit of elite volunteers from the
Bloodstone Army, many of whom were refugees from Soravia, to form a new ducal militia. Duke Olwen teamed
up immediately with the Soravian Talebringers under the Ranger Marco Wildfeet and the Ilmatari High Priest
Pastor Michael.
The Talebringers - a band of 23 - had ridden through Soravia since Zhengyi's time, fighting Zhengyi's bandits
and monsters. After Zhengyi's fall, Wildfeet and his band had urged Dragonsbane to name Olwen Forest-
Friend as ruler of their still embattled and largely occupied province. After joining with Duke Olwen, the
Talebringers disbanded as such, merging into the Soravian militia. The duke named Wildfeet as commander of
the militia.
Duke Olwen reported to the Mirtul Council that his title as duke served to give Soravians hope that peace, law
and order one day would be established in their far-flung province, but that the duchy still was, for most intents
and purposes, a land without rule.
The duke said Soravia was a keystone to Damara's future safety and could be a pinnacle of its wealth, if it could
be reclaimed from the remnants of Zhengyi's band. He said the cleansing and reclamation of Soravia would
contribute much more to Damara's future stability than the proposed Damaran and Vaasan Gates.
The only settlements of Soravia that Zhengyi's hordes had not overrun were Kinnery, Merkurn and Steppenhall.
One can only speculate why they ignored this not particularly important corner of Soravia, but many who do so
credit fear of the magic of Mundelraun in Kinnery with this achievement.
The ducal seat, Kinbrace, was under Olwen's control after fierce fighting, but most of the rest of the land
remained in hostile hands. Some settlers of the autonomous Star of Infelice were said to have succeeded in
fleeing the invaders, and tey were believed to be living in the wilderness.
The ranger said that several of the farms and ranches north of Merkurn and Kinnery had been taken back from
Zhengyi's followers and some were being restored by their former owners, but constant patrols had to be ridden
to protect them from marauding monsters and bandits. He said the same was true of Helmsdale, where less
than 80 of the 500 pre-war settlers still survived.
The duke said that all of Eastern Soravia also lived under the constant threat of crop-killing weather that could
be conjured by the priests of the Cold Goddess in the fortified White Retreat Monastery in the Enchanted Hills.
The ranger said the priests there had worked with Zhengyi and the Citadel of Assassins during the occupation,
but it would be difficult to root them out of their fortress.
However, he said he considered the worst threat to Soravia to be the new Citadel of Assassins hidden in the
Galenas. There were strong signs that the huge bandit army the new Grandfather Timoshenko had gathered
there was strong-arming the various monster bands that still held most of Eastern Soravia.
Olwen said the Ironspur dwarves had retaken their main halls, but their mines still were embattled. It was clear
that members of Timoshenko's army were entering the mines through tunnels and taking command of the
monster hordes there. The string of smaller gold, silver and iron mines along the southeastern flank of the
Galenas remained under the total control of the Grandfather and the monster hordes he had forced under his
command.
Justin's Mine on the northeastern end of the Galenas was overrun by orcs, goblins, ogres and giants who had
been forced back under the Grandfather's command. In addition, Olwen said, the Grandfather's army still had
the de facto control of the ranching plains north of Kinnery and Kinbrace and south of the Galenas and the
Enchanted Hills between the Icelake and the Goliad.
All attempts to find the citadel or to learn its location had failed to date. Celedon Kierney, Riordan Parnell and
Brother Kane reported that Spysong had determined the general location of the new Citadel of Assassins, but
magic - no doubt from the epic archmage Knellict - had destroyed all tracks and other traces the Grandfather's
army had left. Nonetheless, they said, it was but a matter of time before the citadel would be found.
Soravian Duke Olwen reported a possible new problem as well. He said that he and his men had encountered
Afrafa, a wandering Ilmatari monk from the Monastery of the Yellow Rose, and she told them of an evil location
in Eastern Soravia beyond the ranges that Damarans had settled. She said there is an area west of Icelace
Lake and northeast of the Stormhaven Hills that has an intense aura of evil. She suspects that demons or
devils may be attempting to gate into Faerûn at that point.
The three Spysong leaders said their organization had come upon another curiosity while searching the
Galenas for the assassins' citadel. They had found a metallic tower 100 feet/30 m high standing a few
miles/kilometers southeast of the ruins of the first Citadel of Assassins. The corpses of a dozen bandits and
orcs lay near the foot of the tower, all apparently slain by magic.
The tower itself radiated many kinds of strong magic, but no member of Spysong could determine the nature of
that magic. Emelyn the Grey said he would leave the ranks of the Twilight Riders temporarily and travel with
members of Spysong into the Galenas to investigate the tower.
Several members of the council questioned Baron Gareth about his plans for re-establishing the Damaran
kingdom. Dragonsbane said he would wait until the situation in the Duchy of Carmathan and the three southern
baronies had stabilized.
If forced to reach a decision now, the baron said, Carmathan, Morov, Ostel and perhaps Polten would side with
Dimian Ree, the baron of Morov. Bloodstone, Arcata, Brandiar and Soravia would side with him. The free city
of Heliogabalus would remain neutral. The outcome either would be undecided or, if Polten joined Heliogabalus
in abstaining, he would win 4-3 with two abstentions and be named king by a minority of the nine states. That
could lead only to an unstable kingdom, the baron said.
Baron Gareth said he believed the wisest course to follow was that recommended by Quillan the Sage. He
asked the latter to state his views. Quillan said that before Zhengyi's rise, Vaasa was viewed as a great
wasteland that was of little interest to outside powers. Few thought of challenging Damara, which also was a
kingdom capable of defending itself.
Now that Zhengyi had been destroyed, Quillan said, a great vacuum of power had come to be. Many outside
interests were beginning to look with a hungry eye upon both Damara and Vaasa. The divided collection of
duchies and baronies that Damara had degenerated into invited subversion and an eventual takeover from
outside. As a potential key to trade with the Moonsea region, conquered but unclaimed Vaasa also was an
open invitation to outsiders, and the Zhentarim, Mulmaster and Melvaunt already were looking at it, the sage
said.
Therefore, Quillan said, it was vital for Damara not only to reunite but also to claim Vaasa as its spoils of war.
This needed to be done with haste, he said, but not with undue haste, because there were good reasons to
believe that the leaf was being turned in most of the South.
Impiltur soon would make clear to the southern provinces that it considered its trade agreements with Damara
still to be valid and that it was prepared to enforce its rights militarily, if necessary, Quillan said. In plain terms,
the sage said, this meant that Impiltur was prepared to use a substantial military force of the Sword and Wand
of Impiltur to escort large caravans in both directions between its own border and markets in central and
northern Damara. Furthermore, he said, Impiltur would view hostile actions against these caravans by
Carmathan, Morov, Ostel and Polten as acts of war and would respond accordingly.
In addition, he said, he believed before the year's end that Helmont XV of Carmathan and Baroness Sylvia of
Ostel would be removed from power and that Zorth would lose his standing as the counselor of Donlevy the
Young in Polten. In this case, Quillan said, Carmathan, Ostel and Polten would doubtless become closer allied
with Bloodstone and Dimian Ree soon would stand alone in Morov, where he already was having trouble with
the merchants of Morovar.
After the defeat and death of Helmont XIV on the battlefield against the Bloodstone Army, another vacuum was
left, because Bloodstone did not claim the duchy as conqueror and form a new Carmathan government. Shortly
afterward a heretofore unknown man showed up in Ravensburg with seemingly genuine papers claiming to be
Theodorus Devlin, a brother of the fallen Dashard Devlin, who had been Duke Helmont XIV. Theodorus had
claimed the title of Helmont XV.
Quillan said that Spysong had made a discovery regarding Theodorus' claims. In Halfling Downs, members of
Spysong found a woman who claimed to be the ducal Devlin family's midwife. She told the Spysong members
that Devlin Dashard had no brother, that he was an only child.
Brother Kane said that he took the woman for her own safekeeping to the Monastery of the Yellow Rose, where
the monks there who were experts in genealogy were investigating her testimony and Theodorus' claims. In
Damara, Quillan said, the findings of the monks were considered to be conclusive. The sage said if Helmont
XV were proven to be an imposter, he would be removed from office and placed on trial for his deed.
Quillan said the puppet Baroness Sylvia already was in serious trouble in Ostel, where she was hated by the
population and where movements already had taken shape to drive her from office. Sylvia had only the
remnants of a small army, he said, and was maintaining her seat only through the threat of her substantial
magic.
However, when she fled her native Thay, she left powerful enemies behind. One of them, said to be one of the
ruling zulkirs in Thay, recently had commissioned a notorious Thayan headhunter to bring her back to her
homeland, Quillan said. The sage said that between the growing resistance in Ostel and the reports of the
headhunter, Sylvia's days might be numbered without intervention from the Barony of Bloodstone.
Quillan said the Lords of Imphras II were close friends of Baron Donlevy the Old in Polten, and a royal
Impilturian delegation from Ilmwatch would arrive in Trailsend soon to remind Baron Donlevy the Young of that
friendship. The Impilturians, the sage said, also would speak frankly with the young baron over the true nature
of his counselor, the former puppet baron Zorth, and he believed Zorth would cease being a factor at that point.
Only Dimian Ree would be left in opposition, were these events to occur, Quillan said. Ree's future also could
be questionable, the sage claimed. His military power was eliminated in the Bloodstone Wars, and he already
had lost the support of the merchants in his baronial seat of Morovar and in the former Damaran capital, the
Free City of Heliogabalus. Only his royal blood, from his mother's side of the family, kept him in power, the
sage said.
Quillan said if Duke Helmont XV and Baroness Sylvia were to fall from power, Baron Gareth still could claim the
right as their conqueror to appoint a new duke and baron. He also could exercise the same option in Morov,
should Dimian Ree fall.
Once the majority of the provinces were to accept Baron Gareth, as the husband of blood heiress Lady
Christine, as the new monarch, Quillan said he would urge Gareth to proclaim the Kingdom of Bloodstone and
the Princedoms of Damara and Vaasa. The two latter states would comprise the Bloodstone Kingdom, the
sage said.
Quillan acknowledged that the proclamation that conquered Vaasa is under Damaran rule would not keep
intruders from the Moonsea region out of Vaasa, but it would make clear to them that any attempt to claim
sovereignty over any part of Vaasa would be tantamount to declaration of war against Damara. The sage said
the difficult passes that the Moonsea armies would need to use to enter Vaasa would rule out any such
invasion, because Damara's army could simply ride up Dead Man's Walk and have its archers pick off the
defenseless invaders as they concentrated themselves upon descending the difficult passes.
While the Mirtul Council debated such matters in Bloodstone Village, Shandaril was looking at them from
another viewpoint in Heliogabalus. The scouting expeditions of Mulmaster and Melvaunt into Vaasa did not
concern her particularly, but the presence of the Zhents was troublesome. In these times, Zhentil Keep still
stood and the Zhentarim was the key rival of the Iron Throne.
Intruders from the Moonsea region were beyond Shandaril's area of influence. That was a matter for Throne
leader Dalton Krenn in Ordulin to handle. But the epic wizardess saw to it that messengers were sent informing
Krenn of what was happening in Vaasa and what she thought should be done about it.
The new Citadel of Assassins was another matter. Shandaril wanted all of the mines in the Galenas reopened
and back in operation and claims to new mines to be staked. She had every intention of controlling the private
bloodstone markets in Damara and Vaasa, but to realize this vision, she needed to have a private bloodstone
market to control. The terrorism of the Grandfather of Assassins was preventing this.
In addition, she thought it was time that the Iron Throne infiltrated the Soravian militia and whatever ducal
government Duke Olwen might establish. Most of the closed mines and potential new mines that could be
brought under the Throne's influence would be on the Soravian boundary and would require relatively safe
routes of transportation.
Shandaril's spies in the North brought her the news that Baron Gareth and his Spysong organization were
having difficulty finding the new Citadel of Assassins because the epic archmage Knellict had hidden it with
magic. She smiled at that thought, because she had a toy she believed would defeat Knellict's magic and
thereby increase the credibility of the Throne's agents with Duke Olwen.
A growing number of talented Throne agents had been spreading themselves between Heliogabalus and New
Sarshel in the Great Dale. Shandaril summoned her key operative in Heliogabalus, Rendel Burdon, to her, to
give him instructions. As far as higher level Throne agents in Damara and Vaasa were concerned, Burdon was
the head of the Throne in the Bloodstone Lands, subordinate to Keel Nesbitt in New Sarshel. Typical for
Throne operations was the secrecy which veils the true leader, Sarshel in Heliogabalus, and her next-in-line,
Nordolf Gilding in New Sarshel.
Shandaril told Burdon that she wanted a small team of talented Throne agents including a middle to middle-high
level mage to travel to Soravia and volunteer for duty in Duke Olwen's militia. The agents would be ordered to
offer their full service and abilities to the Duke, to gain his confidence. She gave Burdon a case of magical
scrolls for the mage, which she said would solve the Soravians' difficulties in finding the Citadel of Assassins.
Kythorn
Little was done during the Kythorn Council other than to review passing events. Quillan the Sage reported that
Impilturian emissaries had passed through Lenchford in Polten, en route to the barons of Polten, Ostel and
Morov and the Duchy of Carmathan to make their kingdom's point of view and intentions known. Celedon
Kierney, Riordan Parnell, Brother Kane and Duke Olwen of Soravia sent written reports but excused themselves
from the meeting, saying they were involved in attempts to find the new Citadel of Assassins.
Quillan the Sage said he had traveled magically to the site of the strange metal tower in the Galenas. He said
he could learn little about the tower's apparently deadly magic, but it bore signs of being Imaskari in origin.
Quillan said it was possible that the tower was an artifact of considerable power.
Duke Dormythyrr of Brandiar said his forces had succeeded in driving most of the chaos-wracked remnants of
Zhengyi's band from the duchy, but he said that no great victories had been won. Instead, the enemy forces
had been driven into the Galenas or had fled into Soravia, where Brandiar's solutions compounded the
problems of Soravian Duke Olwen.
Riordan Parnell reported that whatever magic had wrought chaos among Zhengyi's orcs, giants, ogres and
goblins apparently still was working effectively. He said the monster hordes continued to battle with one
another and appear confused in the Galenas, but that most of them slowly had continued their flight, heading in
the Vaasan swamps and beyond to the West Galenas.
However, the problem with Zhengyi's hordes had not been resolved, Parnell said. Spysong had gained
information that the fleeing monsters had grown into a distant but threatening population within the mountains
above Thar. He estimated that some 200,000 giants, ogres, orcs and goblins lived there.
After their flight to the northwest, the monster hordes appeared to shake off the confusion and chaos that had
wracked them in the South, Parnell said, but fortunately for Damara and its potential trading partners in the
Moonsea region, the monsters continued to be divided into many small rival factions that were constantly
warring with one another. If anyone like Zhengyi were to bring the monster hordes under a united command,
Parnell warned, they would pose a serious threat to Vaasa once more, and they could cut Damara off
completely from the Moonsea region.
After the council meeting, a band of seven Sembian adventurers was granted an audience with Duke Olwen in
Kinbrace. The band, led by a middle level mage named Dargo Marbish, said it wished to offer its service in the
hope that it would be granted a mining right in the Galenas after Soravia had been cleansed of Zhengyi's scum.
Marbish said he was in possession of Sembian scrolls that he believed could be used to find the Citadel of
Assassins. He identified the other members of his band as accomplished fighters and scouts. In truth, they
were a collection of evil rangers and thieves specialized in scouting who served the Iron Throne. All bore
magical items that showed an alignment of neutral good. Olwen welcomed the seven into his service.
Marbish's scrolls included a version of Shandaril's famous spell, Shandaril's Tracer (see FR4 The Magister by
Ed Greenwood and Steve Perrin, available as an ESD download). The new
spell, Greater Shandaril's Tracer, can place the invisible tracer rune upon a
living creature, thereafter revealing its location to the caster. (For more
details, see the spell description in the Northern Journey Campaign Guide.)
Marbish suggested to Duke Olwen that one of the human prisoners of the
Grandfather's army be allowed to escape after Marbish secretly had placed a
tracer rune upon him. With the spell, Marbish said, he would be able to trace
the escapees' movement, which eventually would reveal the location of the citadel.
The duke went along with the suggestion and made it possible for a band of low level, captive thieves from the
citadel to escape. Marbish succeeded in tracing the marked thief's path west of embattled Ironspur and up a
pass into the mountains. After a tenday at his destination, the thief returned down the pass and rode outside of
Ironspur southward, where he was captured again while taking part in a raid on farms north of Merkurn.
It seemed clear to both Marbish and Duke Olwen that the turning point, where the thief spent a tenday and then
returned, was the location of the citadel. It was late Kythorn when the thief had made his turnabout. Before the
month ended, the duke sent a well-armed team of messengers off to Bloodstone Village with the news.
In Heliogabalus, Shandaril was pleased with the messages that were being passed on from Soravia. All
appeared to be going according to plan. In the kingless Damaran capital, things were going well too. The
bloodstone market was producing a flow of cash again, but bloodstone prices still were depressed. Merchants
willing to sell a share of the company or even the whole business to an investor were easy to find.
Shandaril saw to it that there was sufficient spending money from the Iron Throne. Thus, the Throne managed
to sink its tentacles deeply into the financial heart of Damara, long before the nation's paladin king-to-be had
cast more than a cursory glance upon the then unsavory city of merchants and thieves.
At the beginning of Kythorn, an Impilturian deputation made its way north up Merchants Run and the Damaran
Trail. In Lenchford, the delegation met briefly with village leaders. The Impilturians said the requests of
Lenchford and Tellerth to be annexed into Impiltur would be decided based upon the future alignment of Baron
Donlevy the Young of Polten.
Both Lenchford and the town of Tellerth had closed themselves to the baronial government and had refused to
accept the rule of Zhengyi's baronial puppet Zorth. After Tellerth sent the true Baron Donlevy the Young, whom
it had hidden, back to Trailsend, where he replaced Zorth as baron, the town was ready to return into the fold of
the barony but reversed that stand after Donlevy the Young accepted the deposed Zorth as his counselor.
The Impilturians said that their kingdom would wait for one year. If Baron Donlevy stood in the way of the
reunification of the Damaran kingdom at that time, they said, then Impiltur would grant the people's petition to
annex southern Polten, and it would enforce that annexation with its full military might.
The delegation then continued northward with the baronial seat of Polten, Trailsend, as its first goal. Counselor
Zorth was well informed of the delegation's crossing of the border at Lenchford, and he also received word of
the Impilturians' decision regarding an annexation.
Zorth knew that the Impilturians would give the young baron detailed information over his own actions in
Zhengyi's time. The baronial counselor saw that he had no future in Polten. He long had prepared for such a
day and had spirited away riches enough to finance a comfortable life to the end of his days. By night, Zorth
simply vanished. Disguised as a bloodstone raftsman, the deposed baron slipped into the Trader's Bay area of
Impiltur, where he vanished in the swamps. Whether he still lives there is unknown.
The Impilturians spent a full tenday with the then 15-year-old baron, who remembered well his father's
friendship with the Lords of Imphras II and their folk. For the first time, Donlevy learned how Zorth had
orchestrated the assassination of his father and then been named by the Witch King to replace him. The young
baron also heard for the first time how Zorth had sent Polten's troops into an alliance with Morov and Ostel
against Bloodstone Village and how the war prisoners from Polten were treated well and freed by Bloodstone's
Baron Gareth.
At the urging of the Impilturians, Donlevy talked with a number of local officials and with Brigadier Hanset
Dargun, commander of the barony's militia. All were impressed with the deeds of Baron Gareth and the
Bloodstone Army, and all also had become befriended with members of the Twilight Riders. Donlevy the Young
learned that the allies Zorth had recommended were allies of Zhengyi the Witch King, Morov's Baron Dimian
Ree and Ostel's Baroness Sylvia.
Before the Impilturians had departed, Donlevy the Young had appointed Brigadier Dargun to serve as his
governing chancellor until the baron reached adulthood and had the knowledge he needed to rule Polten.
Dargun pledged continuing friendship with Impiltur and support for Baron Gareth of Bloodstone, when the day
came to reassemble the Kingdom of Damara. Dargun also sent messengers to Bloodstone Village to bring
Baron Gareth Polten's pledge of support and friendship.
The paladin of Tyr Xindelraun, who represented War Captain Admiral Rilaunyr of Ilmwatch, headed the
delegation. Rilaunyr was the Lord of Imphras II who was the regional ruler for northeastern Impiltur Xindelraun
served Rilaunyr as the ruling prefect of the City of Ilmwatch. Riding with him were a priest of Ilmater, three magi
from the Wand of Impiltur and 16 paladins and warriors from the Sword of Impiltur.
Xindelraun told the young baron and Dargun that Impiltur might have to beg the indulgence of Polten in the near
future for the presence of Impilturian troops in the barony. He said that Impiltur had valid trade treaties with the
Kingdom of Damara, and it intended to see that these were honored.
If Carmathan, Morov or Ostel acted in any manner to block or tax caravans traveling in either direction between
northern Impiltur and Damara, Xindelraun said, the Sword and Wand of Impiltur would begin accompanying all
such caravans through the fallen Kingdom of Damara and defend them with military might against any local
dukes or barons who violated standing treaties.
Dargun said he welcomed such an action from Impiltur. All of Damara, he said, was in dire financial straits. If
Impiltur were to assure the safety of caravans until the kingdom could be restored, it would help the nation on its
way to economic recovery.
The chancellor said since the Bloodstone Wars, in which Polten's militia lost about 100 men, the South Barracks
in Trailsend were empty. He offered the garrison to Xindelraun to use as a way station for the military guards
who would protect caravans. Dargun also said if the Impilturians were attacked in Carmathan, Morov or Ostel,
that they could count on support from Polten's militia.
He said Polten would recognize neither Dimian Ree nor Sylvia as barons of their lands because they had no
inherited rights to those titles; Damara's enemy, Zhengyi, had appointed them. He said he also doubted the
hereditary claim of Theodorus in Ravensburg, who he believed to be an imposter claiming to be Duke Helmont
XV.
After leaving Trailsend, Xindelraun's delegation traveled on to Morovar, Praka and Ravensburg, meeting with
Baron Dimian Ree, Baroness Sylvia and Duke Helmont XV. All three regional rulers were informed rather
clearly of Impiltur's position on treaties with the Kingdom of Damara and of the willingness of the Lords of
Imphras II to enforce those rights with its military power.
The duke and the two barons, in turn, informed Xindelraun that the Kingdom of Damara had ceased to exist,
that the duchies and the two baronies were sovereign and that Impiltur must negotiate separate treaties with
each. Xindelraun replied that Impiltur did not recognize or intend to recognize the three provinces as sovereign
states and that it also did not recognize Ree and Sylvia as legitimate barons. Theodorus was informed that
Impiltur was not yet convinced that his claim to be Duke Helmont XV was legitimate, and that it would await a
decision on the question from the Monastery of the Yellow Rose.
Xindelraun said that Impiltur recognized the alliance of Bloodstone, Arcata, Brandiar, Soravia and Polten as well
as the Free City of Heliogabalus as being the legitimate representatives of the Kingdom of Damara, until the
kingdom itself could be re-established. The Impilturian crown, on the other hand, viewed Carmathan, Morov
and Ostel as renegade provinces with a history of subservience to Zhengyi the Witch King.
If the duchy or the two baronies wished to use the Impilturian trade routes, either by land or water, they would
have to come to terms with the Bloodstone Alliance, Xindelraun said. Until that time, all wares from Carmathan,
Morov or Ostel would be barred from entering Impiltur.
In parting, Xindelraun also warned the duke and the two barons not to take any hostile actions against
Impilturian caravan escorts. On the contrary, he said, Impiltur expected the three to see to it that law and order
was maintained in their lands when escorted caravans passed through them. Impiltur, he said, would consider
any attack to be an act of war, and the Lords of Imphras II would respond quickly and accordingly.
Flamerule
The Flamerule meeting of the Bloodstone Council was short but intense. There were important matters on the
agenda, among them the news that the location of the Citadel of Assassins no longer was hidden. The citadel
was awaiting its destruction, although perhaps unaware of it.
Before turning to this main agenda item, however, Baron Gareth called upon his finance minister Rulmgar to
report his findings on the proposed Damaran and Vaasan gates. Rulmgar said the Orothiar dwarves were
willing to accept a contract for construction of the Vaasan gate, but the costs were far beyond the Bloodstone
treasury's ability to pay. They were absolutely prohibitive.
For the Vaasan border, Rulmgar suggested a wall much like the Limes that the Romans of the real world built
between the Danube and the Rhine to keep Germanic barbarian tribes out of the Roman Empire, albeit shorter
than the Limes. Rulmgar proposed a stone wall 30 feet/9 m high and a meter thick running the half-mile/800 m
breadth of the northern pass from Vaasa into Damara.
Rulmgar suggested that Baron Gareth build his proposed Monastery of the Golden Cup inside the wall on its
south face west of the Vaasan gate, between the gate and the Beaumaris River. He said the budget also could
finance watchtowers every 200 yards/meters, with large towers at the eastern and western ends, where the wall
met the Galena Mountains.
In the south, Rulmgar said, Impiltur was willing to finance half of the costs of a wall spanning the entrance to
Bloodstone Pass, if the barony would agree to patrol the wall to curb potential smuggling. A stone wall 20
feet/6 m high and 18 inches/50 cm thick with watchtowers at half-mile/800 m intervals and a gate could be
financed, Rulmgar said, and the dwarves would be willing to accept the contract to build both walls.
After considerable discussion, Baron Gareth agreed to accept the more modest plan rather than his own original
proposal for the two great gates, and all members of the council supported that action. The baron told Rulmgar
to commission the dwarven engineers to begin work in the current year.
The next order of business was the message from Chancellor Dargun and Baron Donlevy the Young in Polten,
saying they wished to join the Bloodstone Alliance. The council was unanimous in welcoming the southern
barony and invited Chancellor Dargun to join the council as a member at its Eleasias meeting.
Riordan Parnell and Celedon Kierney said that with Polten's move into the Bloodstone Camp, Baron Gareth
now had a majority for re-establishing the kingdom, with Gareth as monarch. However, Baron Gareth said the
time had not yet come to proclaim the new kingdom. The Barony of Bloodstone and the other provinces of the
alliance needed to finish cleaning their own doorsteps before making such a move, he said, and that meant
above all eliminating the Citadel of Assassins and driving the rest of Zhengyi's minions from Soravia.
Duke Olwen outlined the information his spies had obtained over the new Citadel of Assassins. Baron Gareth
proposed that the attack troop assemble in ten days in Kinbrace. He said he hoped all seven other members of
his own fellowship would take part in the attack. He also asked the other nobles and the leaders of the freedom
organizations to come to Kinbrace with small but powerful groups of followers who were prepared to deal with
magic, fierce combatants and slippery thieves.
On the 14th day of Flamerule, a band of grim men, dwarves and two half-elves left Kinbrace as the grey light
before dawn came into to the Soravian sky, but none heard or saw them. The war party blended into the
landscape as its rode, with the din of its horses' hooves and the clanging of metal silenced by the magic of
Emelyn the Grey.
The group not only was hidden by magic. It also rode through the ruins of more prosperous times and the
barren lands between the Goliad and Galena Snake rivers, avoiding the road and possible enemy patrols.
Although upward into the lower levels of the mountains, the band remained east of the Goliad, fording it only
when in the lower mountains, then crossing the High Walk that wound its way on to Vaasan Palishchuk. On the
east side of the High Walk, Marbish led the band up the small pass into the Galenas that his tracer spell had
found.
At a point an estimated 10 miles/15 km from the citadel, the band, still protected by magic, camped for the night.
Emelyn the Grey worked additional magic to keep the enemy from seeing the flames or smoke of the campfires
and from detecting the smells of food cooking.
Again, by the pre-dawn grey of the next morning, the attackers moved in, still hidden by magic. Emelyn did not
expect these protections to hold all of the way to the citadel, and his pessimism was well rewarded. When the
band was within two miles/three kilometers of the citadel, Knellict's magic overcame Emelyn's defense spells,
and an alarm was sounded.
The band made it half a mile/800 m farther, when the battle was joined. Baron Gareth's band and the
Grandfather's followers battled bitterly with one another until sunset on that fateful day. Many lay dead on both
sides when the combat finally came to an end, and yet, the victory was not complete. There was no trace after
the battle of the epic archmage Knellict, and the Ilmatari monk of Baron Gareth's fellowship, Brother Kane, lay
among the dead.
Baron Gareth had led the fighters in his troop while Emelyn the Grey commanded the spellcasters. The
Grandfather of Assassins Timoshenko and the Brother Kane squared off against each other in a fight that lasted
for more than two hours. Timoshenko fell first, but both died in the battle. Friar Dugald refused to resurrect
Kane and barred other clerics from trying to do so. He said the Ilmatari believe that death is death, and it was
Kane's wish to respect that belief when his own time came.
Rulmgar, who until then had been admired above all for his bookkeeping skills, proved himself on the battlefield
that day. He squared off against the most powerful of the Grandfather's surviving assassins, the notorious Cat
One-Eye. He ordered his comrades to stay out of the battle, wanting to deal with her on a 1-to-1 basis. After
three hours of battle, Cat One-Eye lay dead, her head severed from her shoulders by Rulmgar's sword. But
Rulmgar too was mortally wounded, and he would have died that day, were it not for the great healing powers of
Friar Dugald.
Duke Olwen and Celedon Kierney also were sorely wounded, as were other members of the band, forcing the
priests accompanying them to spend long hours after the battle healing the fallen who still breathed.
Early on, the two epic archmagi, Emelyn the Grey and Knellict, had squared off against each other and then
simply vanished. Knellict had underestimated Emelyn. He wanted the mage of the Twilight Riders for his own,
but he had gotten more than he had bargained for. Knellict had used his first spell to teleport the two of them to
a small plateau some distance from the citadel, where they could concentrate upon each other without having to
dodge warriors' arrows.
Each tried to conserve his own spell powers and hoped the opponent would be less wise. Thus, they also spent
considerable time dodging one another or trading attacks from wands and rods. The battle went on until the
early afternoon, when Emelyn at last struck a mortal blow.
Knellict knew his life would not last another hour without healing. In his last action, he teleported himself to a
cave above Justin's Mine, where he had stored a supply of the healing potions he needed to survive, where he
could rest and recuperate, to return another day.
Emelyn the Grey was badly injured but not yet in danger of death. From the plateau, he could see a spire of the
citadel far below. Slowly, wearily and wracked with pain, he made his way down the mountain. As the sun set,
the last of the Grandfather's men was slain. Stillness came over the battlefield, and then Emelyn the Grey
stumbled into the camp and collapsed near the weary form of Friar Dugald, who used his last minor healing
spell to allow the archmage to sleep that night, poorly healed but with less pain.
Despite the blood on the ground and the stench of death, Baron Gareth's band camped that night where it had
fought and slowly won. On the following day, the priests and clerics resumed their healing. Those warriors who
regained their strength buried the dead. When that was done, Baron Gareth, Emelyn the Grey, Celedon
Kierney, Riordan Parnell, Duke Olwen, Rulmgar and Friar Dugald together built a funeral cairn over the grave of
Brother Kane and bid the first of their fellowship to have fallen a final farewell.
The band retreated then a bit from the battlefield to avoid danger, while Emelyn the Grey and the other magi
used their spells and magical tools to blow the second Citadel of Assassins forever into the small shards of
oblivion.
The band had numbered nearly 50 before the battle. Less than 30 of them, all tired, exhausted and grim,
descended the pass. The men were relieved to have won, to know that the second citadel had been smashed,
to know that the Grandfather and Cat One-Eye were dead, their bodies burned and their ashes scattered to the
wind to prevent their resurrection.
But there was no joy in the victory. Brother Kane and many other companions had lost their lives in the battle.
And the archmage Knellict appeared to have escaped, which was tantamount to a promise that he would meet
them again in another time, at another place, in another battle. The last round had yet to be fought.
Eleasias
In the Council Meeting, Riordan Parnell and Celedon Kierney recommended that Spysong be kept alive and
active despite the fact that its original purpose, the destruction of the Citadel of Assassins, had been
accomplished. There were persons and organizations who would pursue goals in Damara that were inimical to
the interests of the war-torn land during its period of reconstruction, Kierney said. He named the Zhentarim and
the Sembian Iron Throne as two likely candidates.
Among the other goals yet to be attained, he said, were the rooting out and destruction of Knellict, the
liquidation of the enemy hordes in Eastern Soravia and the winning of the three central provinces, to make
possible the proclamation of the restored kingdom.
There was much to be done, Kierney said, and Spysong was needed to gain the information necessary to
accomplish it. The council shared this view. Baron Gareth told Parnell and Kierney to continue to do the work
they had been doing when Brother Kane still lived as the third member of their triumvirate.
In Heliogabalus, Shandaril's Iron Throne agents and investors quietly conquered ever more of financial Damara.
The voice of the Throne became prominent within the Damaran Merchants League, and one began to ponder
how to rid the capital of the fallen kingdom of Tightpurse, the insidious guild of thieves led by Tarkos Ree,
paternal cousin of Dimian Ree, Baron of Morov.
Dimian Ree, in turn, attempted to disassociate himself from his cousin, although most of Heliogabalus believed
that the two Rees remained close to one another. The Baron of Morov was becoming desperate in his fading
hopes for attaining the Damaran throne. With the loss of the Barony of Polten, Baron Gareth of Bloodstone had
gained a majority of the Damaran provinces. His own alliance consisted only of Morov, Ostel and Carmathan.
Dimian and Tarkos Ree consulted secretly over this problem. Tarkos Ree was just as concerned as his cousin
over the implications of an Ilmatari paladin becoming king of Damara. Neighboring Impiltur was a good
example of a government of Ilmatari paladins. If, with time a future King Gareth could establish a Damaran
kingdom like that of Impiltur, it would be poison for Tightpurse.
However, the power of Tarkos Ree and his thieves' guild was limited to the populous Lake Mogador area.
Tarkos Ree thought a triple assassination of Baron Gareth, Lady Christine and old Baron Tranth would be an
ideal solution to the problem. Dimian Ree then would be the only bloodline survivor of the royal Bloodfeathers
family.
However, Tarkos Ree also recognized that Tightpurse could only fail at such an attempt. The old Grandfather
of Assassins was much more capable of slaying the Bloodstone triumvirate than Tightpurse, and he had failed
miserably. The few Tightpurse assassins were mere journeymen in comparison to the masters who had slain
for the Grandfather.
Tarkos Ree told his cousin he saw but a single hope. If Baron Gareth were to claim the crown, he doubtless
would re-establish the status of Heliogabalus as the kingdom's capital. Once King Gareth moved to the city,
Tarkos Ree said, he would be on the terrain of Tightpurse, where the new king, his wife and the old baron could
be slain. Dimian Ree then would be the only rightful heir to the throne.
Eleint
Thoughts turned from action to long-term planning, as the first nocturnal frosts began arriving in Eleint. Winter
soon would lie again upon the land, and the severe travel conditions that came with the cold season would
make travel and trouble minimal. Nonetheless, before winter could claim the lands, the autumn Bloodstone
nights brought with them new causes for worry and concern.
At the end of the first tenday, a villager in Virdin awoke with two wounds on his throat. Clerics who investigated
the matter were certain the marks were those of a vampire. The victim did not die or become a vampire himself,
nor did he have any serious after effects.
Baron Gareth pondered in council whether the same vampire who had infected the late Abbot Aldric earlier had
returned, but no answer was found to his question. However, before the month had ended, six more cases of
vampire bites were reported in Bloodstone Pass. Three were in Virdin and three more in Bloodstone Village.
No one in the Bloodstone Kingdom was aware of it, but Kargmelchina and Sammaster had become active as
vampire dragon liches and were fortifying themselves with occasional blood feasts.
Although his enemies were not yet aware of it, the epic archmage Knellict, formerly house wizard of both
Citadels of Assassins and before that chief aide to the lich wizard Zhengyi the Witch King, had found a new
base of operations. Knellict used his magic to take control of Justin's Mine in the northeastern tip of the
Galenas and its monster population.
Justin's Mine had become the command center for the estimated 2,500 goblins, orcs, ogres and giants, all
former minions of Zhengyi, who still controlled much of Soravia. With his powerful magic, Knellict slew the ogre
who had been exercising the command and announced that he was the band's new leader.
Knellict had been prominent in the Bloodstone Wars. Many of the monsters knew who he was and knew better
than to tangle with him. A few others who were less wise tangled with Knellict, who destroyed them quickly with
his magic. The survivors quickly acknowledged the archwizard as their new leader.
Marpenoth, Uktar and Nightal

Enduring frost had set in by the second tenday in Eleint, and it would continue unabated until late Ches of the
following year. With winter upon the land, active attempts to control a part of the land by the various fixtures
and forces hibernated, while those behind them planned and conspired.
With the exceptions of Friar Dugald and Duke Olwen, Baron Gareth's fellowship, along with many members of
Spysong and the Twilight Riders all had arrived in Bloodstone Village before the end of Uktar, to remain snowed
in there until late Ches. They did so with little concern, expecting that their enemies would be forced to do the
same on their own home ground.
For Knellict, in his first months as the new leader of the remnants of the bandit army in Eastern Soravia, times
were hard. Most of the humans who had survived in the East were slain in conflicts with ogres and orcs after
the fall of the second Citadel of Assassins. These monster bands were poorly organized, most broken into
small groups that fought with one another over territory and slaves, the latter being the local humans who still
survived in Eastern Soravia, above all in the area of the Star of Infelice.
The growing season was short around the five towns of the star, but land was fertile south of Rolene, Tokard
and Newbelle and ideal for grazing north of there. Most of the monster tribes valued the humans as slave
farmers. Orc drivers forced them to raise crops and herd cattle, but the drivers knew better than to slay their
slaves or physically punish them to the point where they no longer could work.
Still more detrimental to the ogres and orcs was the ironical fact that the village distillery in Tokard had survived
the war unscathed. It was the greatest hope the humans of the Star of Infelice had. The few giants who
remained in the East had no interest for Tokard firewater, but their role was in constant decline. The spoils of
war in Eastern Soravia brought nothing else of interest to the giants either. Most had migrated back into the
Galenas or the Giantspires where they were at home.
As a result, most of the bands of monsters that controlled Eastern Soravia were under the command of ogres
who were physically stronger than the orcs and in many cases commanded more magic and higher level clerical
powers than the orcs. The only spell users among the orcs were low-level sorcerers and shamans. The last
echelon was truly the last, comprising the goblins, who were at the bottom of the monster army's ladder in all
respects but one. They outnumbered the surviving ogres and orcs combined by a margin of more than 2 to 1.
Most of the ogres knew better than to succumb to the temptation of human rye and corn whisky. But the
majority of the orcs and goblins they commanded were often inebriated. The ogre chieftains were harsh with
their underlings, but they were unable to get a grip on the drunkenness of the orcs and goblins, and they knew
any attempt to shut down Tokard's distillery could start a rebellion within their own ranks that could cost them
their heads.
At the end of Eleint, Knellict could estimate that an army of some 2,500 occupied the mines and Eastern
Soravia. His only hope of taking control of this host was to bring it together, where he could use magic and fear
to force the divided monster hordes to do his will.
The priests of Auril were the tools Knellict chose to achieve his goal. With a small fortune in gems and several
items of valuable magic, Knellict traveled to the fortified White Retreat monastery in Soravia's Enchanted Hills
and met there with High Hand of Ice Narmella. After negotiations, she accepted Knellict's offerings and his
commission to bring a harsh and early winter down upon Eastern Soravia.
Knellict then sent runners out to the ogre and orc captains who commanded the various bands in Soravia,
telling them that the mighty Knellict had returned and warning them that the worst cold season since the Wolf
Winter of the Year of the Spur (1348 DR) and the Year of the Bridle (1349 DR) was coming. The ogre
commanders in Eastern Soravia were no fools, therefore, some of them proved to be foolish. They ignored the
warnings, believing them to be a hoax or a trap to bring their bands into servitude under stronger hosts.
Others, although they were skeptical, had learned to listen to some of the things the orc shamans in their bands
said. Almost every Shaman who had a sense for weather contended that the warnings were true, that another
Wolf Winter was on its way. Thus, in the end, the majority of the ogre and orc chieftains led their bands up to
Knellict's stronghold in Justin's Mine, where the epic wizard claimed to have both shelter and stored food in
return for fealty.
However, Knellict's plans were only partially successful. His warnings were issued shortly before the harvest of
Soravia's grains and the slaughter of the summer's cattle. The monster bands had made poor attempts to
continue raising grain and cattle taken from the conquered humans of the Star of Infelice. However, instead of
slaughtering the cattle, as they had in years past, they absconded with the human wagons that still were intact
and drove living cattle northward toward the Galenas.
The orc and goblin drovers were incompetent to do either. To avoid battles with Duke Olwen's troops, most of
the fleeing ogres, orcs and goblins rode from the Star of Infelice over the pass north of the Enchanted Hills and
south of Pelvuria. There were no roads there, and the terrain often was rough. Only a skilled teamster riding
slowly could bring a wooden wagon safely over such ground. The teamsters of the monster band were
inexperienced. More than half of the grain wagons tipped and were severely damaged. The bands simply rode
on, leaving the spilled grain to rot.
None of the orc or goblin drovers ever had taken part on a cattle drive. Their work was just as disastrous as
that of the teamsters. Stampedes were the order of the day. Few of the stampeding cattle were captured
again, but many orc and goblin drovers as well as their mounts had been trampled to death.
By the end of the month, some 1,300 ogres, orcs and goblins had reached Justin's Mine alive, and they had
brought precious little food with them. None of the cattle had made it up the slopes to the mine. Most had
stampeded. The rest were slaughtered and eaten along the way.
Knellict had entertained no illusions about orcs and goblins or the ability of ogres to command them well. He
expected the army he had called to pose serious problems. Nonetheless, he was shocked at the disarray of the
ill-supplied warriors who came to Justin's Mine. He saw immediately that there were far too few supplies to feed
his host through the winter.
The archwizard's only alternative was to reduce the size of his host. He calculated that he could bring about
1,100 warriors at reduced rations through the winter. Goblins were the least valuable to him. He sent all 1,100
of them out to patrol the Galena ridge and put them under the control of 30 orc commanders. Once the host
had vanished from site, Knellict ordered the mine gates barred for the winter and he sealed them with magical
protections as well.
By the time the outcast orc and goblin warriors realized that they had been set out of the mine, it was too late.
Most of the orcs managed to weasel their way into other smaller mines where bandits already were holed up for
the winter, but the goblins, left leaderless, panicked and attempted to flee back down the Galenas into Eastern
Soravia. They fled too late. The horrible snows conjured by the priests of Auril in the White Monastery caught
them on the slopes. All but a handful of the goblins died there, buried in snow that was over their heads.
Those who had refused Knellict's call also met an ill fate. The occupation army that had plagued the Star of
Infelice suddenly had declined in number from 2,500 to about 750. The human refugees who had banded
together in the wilderness had waited for such a day. During the years of occupation, they had not been
inactive. They had tunneled out secret granaries beneath the farms the monsters had commandeered, stealing
substantial shares of the little grain the monsters had managed to harvest. Whenever an opportunity arose,
they also had stolen weapons from orcs and goblins, many of whom spent much of their time being drunk.
An underground command had been formed in Tokard. With the mass march northward of the majority of their
oppressors, Tokard sent the call for an uprising in all four directions. Armed with farm implements and captured
weapons, the 200 or so human farmers and ranchers who had returned to the Star of Infelice waited until the
deep hours of the night, after midnight, and then slew the few guards watching the commandeered farm and
ranch houses where the ogre, orc and goblin overseers laired.
Once the guards were dead, the wooden frame buildings were put to the torch at several locations. Any of the
drunken monsters that attempted to flee were slaughtered on the spot. However, most had been too inebriated
to make a reasonable attempt to escape. When dawn arrived - ending what has become known as the Night of
the Burning Bloodstar - some 60 monsters had fallen in battle, 620 had burned to death and 70 had succeeded
in fleeing, often unarmed. It took a tenday, but these were hunted down at last.
Knellict was aware of the uprising. He had scryed it. He was not surprised, but it was another blow in his plans
to control the Eastern Galenas and a part of the food-producing Soravian plain. He had plans for the coming
spring, plans that were just as dependent upon powerful magic under his control as they were upon the size and
strength of his host.
Immediately after the battle, the field command in Tokard sent messengers to Duke Olwen, telling of their
victory and asking him for aid and reinforcements. The conjured snows from the White Monastery hit Eastern
Soravia before he could act, but he and his commander, Marco Wildfeet, were undaunted by the weather. They
sent 250 well-armed members of the Soravian militia along with supplies out on heavy sleds to the five towns of
the Star of Infelice. A 50-man provisional garrison of the militia was established in each of the five towns.
1361 DR - Year of Maidens

Hammer - Ches
Neither rain nor hail nor sleet nor snow nor heat of day nor dark of night can keep a Spysong ranger from the
swift completion of his appointed rounds. While the leaders of the organization recuperated from the year's
adventures before a warm hearth, several men of the wilderness who had spent the warmer seasons riding with
Spysong rode ever onward through deep snow and deeper cold, to keep an eye on things that were happening
in their lands.
Therefore, Riordan Parnell and Celedon Kierney came to know certain things at the turn of the year that not
always were intended for their eyes and ears. None of these things pleased them, nor did they know what
importance to attach to them:
• They learned of Knellict and his monster host in Justin's Mine.
• For reasons none could fathom, Spysong also learned that Knellict had turned more than 1,000 goblins
and some orcs as well out of Justin's Mine and locked the gates behind them.
• Two mountain lairs inhabited by members of the Cult of the Dragon had been discovered. Because it
was likely that one or more powerful magi were in the cult groups, and because the rangers were alone,
they did not attack but merely watched, unseen. The rangers said it appeared likely that the cultists were
heading into Vaasa. Both the rangers and the leaders of Spysong assumed there was a connection
between the cultists and the dragons gathering in the ruins of Castle Perilous.
• There was little peace in Vaasa. The Black Holes of Sunderland - a series of caves and tunnels into the
Underdark on the Vaasan slopes of the Galenas - had been troubled areas long before Zhengyi's time.
Since the Witch King's defeat, they had become the lairs of numerous members of his monster army who
had fled back into the North. With the coming of winter, it appeared that the Black Holes also had
become a refuge for many of the goat's head priests who had served Zhengyi as spiritual leaders of the
monster hordes. The rangers could not determine whether spells were available to the priests. But the
priests and the monsters they perhaps were leading were becoming a growing problem for Darmshall and
Hillsafar Hall.
• Nocturnal dragon flights were becoming frequent in Vaasa. Many of the wyrms flew from the ruins of
Castle Perilous to Suncatcher Mountain and back. But some also would land at unknown destinations
within the Galenas, remain silent there for a few hours and then return back to the ruins of Castle
Perilous. No clue had been found to explain what the dragons might have been doing in the mountains.
In addition to this, the problem of vampirism was growing, and all attempts to track or capture the vampires had
failed. The vampirism was to date more unsettling than a serious problem. No one had died, been turned into a
vampire or even suffered seriously as a result of the bites. It appeared that one or more vampires simply were
feeding on victims without attempting to do them harm, remarkable behavior for vampires.
However, there was little doubt that vampires were biting the victims. Nonetheless, there never were any tracks
or other traces that a vampire had been present other than the wounds on a victim's throat. Spysong also had
gathered no information on this matter. Despite that, Riordan Parnell was convinced that the vampire attacks
were tied somehow to the dragons flying over the Galenas by night and to the dragons who were lairing in the
ruins of Castle Perilous.
Shandaril too took advantage of winter's quiet to plan her goals for the Year of the Maidens. The time had
come, she decided, to begin shaping Damara to her own liking. She sent a message to Dalton Krenn in
Sembian Ordulin asking him to hire a team of expert assassins in a distant land and send it to her.
Tarsakh
Spysong rangers reported that nearly 200,000 giants, ogres, orcs and goblins that had been in Zhengyi's
service were holed up in the West Galenas of Vaasa near the Lake of Ice and the border with Thar. The
monsters were divided into bands that were busy quarrelling and fighting with one another. The rangers did not
believe the horde was capable of outfitting itself for a new march across the Vaasan plain to attack human
settlements in Vaasa south of Dead Man's walk.
However, the rangers also had observed wintertime activity in Vaasa from Zhentil Keep. A company of 50
warriors bearing the heraldry of Zhentil Keep along with several powerful magi whom the Rangers assumed to
be with the Zhentarim had been working from the east side of the Beaumaris in Vaasa, blasting the mountain
walls with magic that caused tremendous avalanches and rockslides.
As a result, the rangers said, any members of the monster horde who wished to advance southward would find
the west bank of the Beaumaris nearly impassable. To reach Dead Man's Walk, the monsters would have to
descend treacherous mountain trails slowly and single file, where they could be picked off easily by archers, or
they would have to descend on the Thar side and advance from there to Garumn's Climb or around the Lake of
Ice to march back into Vaasa.
The Spysong rangers did not know what the goal of the Zhentish was, but they assumed that the Zhentarim was
attempting to protect Garumn's Climb and Dead Man's Walk, probably with the goal of bringing increased
caravan traffic over Vaasa and Bloodstone Village into Damara.
The rangers also discovered a second group of men on the Moonsea side of the West Galenas who were
working to reopen an ancient pass in the South that ran under the north wall of Suncatcher Mountain. The pass
had been known in Damara's first century of existence as Gramble's Climb, but it had fallen quickly into disuse
because of the severity of monster attacks upon it.
Nonetheless, it was an easier pass to travel than Garumn's Climb, and it was not particularly difficult to reopen,
as long as monster attacks were no serious problems. The Spysong rangers said they had talked with this
band and were told that the men were working for entrepreneurs from the Moonsea region seeking a faster
trade route into Vaasa.
The band reported only minor battles with small bands of goblins, but it was more concerned about other recent
attacks. In the tenday before encountering the Spysong rangers, the band reported that vampires had bitten
two of its members in the night. No tracks or other traces of the vampires could be found. On both nights, the
watch had fallen asleep in a manner that was believed to be magical.
The two men who had been bitten were weakened temporarily by the loss of blood but seemed to have suffered
no other aftereffects. The band said it suspected that the mysterious castle in the clouds high atop Suncatcher
was home to one or more vampires, and it had sent a messenger back to the Moonsea region to request
clerical help.
The Moonsea men also reported hearing dragon flights to and from Suncatcher. They said they confirmed that
the sounds were from dragons when the silhouettes of dragons were observed by moonlight.
The main action of the Tarsakh council was to deal with the return of Knellict. Both Baron Gareth and Duke
Olwen were agreed that Justin's Mine needed to be attacked and taken as soon as possible, before Knellict
could send his horde back down the mountain in an attempt to retake the settlements of the Star of Infelice.
Knellict had reached a similar decision. He had decided to launch a rapid attack upon the Soravian ducal seat
of Kinbrace, to conquer it and make the duchy his own. He had planned to capture Kinbrace and then bargain
with the Baron of Bloodstone, offering to give Damara a peace treaty and the lands in Soravia south of the
Icelace River and the Stormhaven Hills in return for Baron Gareth's recognition of the rest of Soravia, including
Justin's Mine, Ironspur and Helmsdale, as his own sovereign state. Knellict also had intended to offer safe
escort of all Damaran humans within Soravia and the dwarves of Ironspur into other parts of Damara.
As so often is the case, nothing went quite according to either side's plans. Baron Gareth gave Duke Olwen
200 men from the Bloodstone Army to aid in the attack. In the second tenday in Tarsakh, Duke Olwen sent a
host of 500 northward from Kinnery, along the Galena Snake, in hopes of making a sneak attack upon Justin's
Mine. His general, Marco Wildfeet, was in command, and all of the Talebringers of Soravia were in his host.
Unaware of the Soravian march, Knellict led his own host of more than 1,000 out of Justin's Mine five days later,
intending to take Kinbrace by surprise. He assumed wrongly that Duke Olwen's host would be under way to the
Star of Infelice, to protect it from being reconquered by his own host.
Knellict intended to conquer Kinbrace quickly. He had with him a mighty artifact he had taken from the ruins of
Castle Perilous after Zhengyi's fall. The item, known as the Maarish Y'rag, could unleash fearsome bolts of
negative energy. Knellict believed that he understood the artifact. Unknown to him, the Maarish Y'rag could be
used successfully only where there was no positive energy, a point of critical importance that had escaped
Knellict's attention.
The Soravian troop also included the members of the Red Death, a mercenary company from Aglarond that
specialized in battles against Red Wizards. The company fought voluntarily in Damara to avenge deeds
Zhengyi had done while still a Red Wizard. It had agreed to serve for two years with the Soravian militia, to
repay Marco Wildfeet's saving of several group members' lives in a seemingly hopeless battle against demons.
Scouts warned the Soravian host that a horde of about 1,000 goblinkind was marching in its direction from
Justin's Mine, with a single, unarmed human leading the army. The two hosts clashed beneath Dawngreeter,
one of the easternmost peaks of the Galenas. Both Wildfeet and the Red Death recognized the commander of
the goblinkind as Knellict. Although outnumbered 2-to-1, the Soravian army gained the upper hand.
At that time, Knellict resorted to his secret weapon, the Maarish Y'rag. The unleashed negative energy of the
artifact destroyed the entire south face of Dawngreeter, all of Knellict's remaining army, most of Wildfeet's army,
Wildfeet himself, all of the Red Death and much of Knellict and the Maarish Y'rag.
Only a handful of the 500 men who rode out with Wildfeet returned with serious wounds to Kinbrace, to tell the
tale of the fall of Knellict, his army and their own host, as well as the destruction of Dawngreeter through the
strange blast of energy that they could not explain, knowing nothing of the Maarish Y'rag. Knellict's devastation,
which ended the legend of Marco Wildfeet and the Soravian Talebringers and the deeds of Red Death, became
known as the Battle of the Vanished.
Its site is shunned to this date. It has become known as the Vale of Silence, a bleak patch on the landscape
where no living thing dwells or grows, where not even ghosts or the wind can be found, where neither the spells
of magi nor the prayers of priests function. Local descendants of the Nar tribes call it Cassaduri, or the Void in
the common tongue.
The archmage Knellict did manage to teleport himself away from the site of the devastation in the last instant,
but he landed unconscious and mortally wounded upon the ruins of Castle Perilous, where Kargmelchina found
him and teleported the unconscious mage to Castle Dragonblood atop Suncatcher.
When he awoke, neither his injuries nor other mortal problems troubled him. He found himself chained with
arms reaching upward to a stone ceiling. Knellict realized immediately that he no longer was among the living,
but also not quite among the dead. As his eyes opened, he saw a man and woman before him.
They introduced themselves as Sammaster and Kargmelchina. Knellict knew the tale of Sammaster, and he
recognized Kargmelchina from her earlier dealings with Zhengyi. Knellict realized immediately that the two
could command him and to a great extent control him.
His last act of free will in Castle Dragonblood was to shout in rage and frustration, but as he did so,
Kargmelchina raised a finger to her lips and said, "Shhh!" The scream died in Knellict's throat, just as she had
commanded.
"We understand each other, Knellict," she said. And then she and Sammaster begin freeing him from the
magical chains that bound him. Knellict had passed from the realms of the living, and for a short time, also from
the knowledge of those who live. It was clear to him that from that time, he would do as he was told.
Knellict had become the first and still foremost of Kargmelchina's and Sammaster's vampire dragons. After
Knellict, they transformed an outcast Red Wizard necromancer named Ragzigul Szurkh into a vampire dragon
and then taught him how to perform the ritual himself, giving him vials of blood from slain wyrms and magi with
which Ragzigul began creating the vampire dragons of Castle Dragonblood and the ruins of Castle Perilous.
After the Battle of the Vanished, Baron Gareth offered Duke Olwen another 100 of his own men, and they
agreed upon the joint goal of slaying the remaining monsters in the eastern wilderness of Soravia. Both agreed
steps would be necessary to build the Soravian army, to make mining of the Galenas' southern face possible
again.
As Tarsakh ended, a vessel flying the colors of Westgate docked briefly at New Sarshel in the Great Dale.
Twelve men with considerable baggage who spoke with the accent of Calimshan disembarked, and the vessel
sailed on to Impilturian Ilmwatch, where it docked again on the last day of the month.
Impilturian customs authorities began to hassle the crew of the ship, as was customary with vessels that had
docked in New Sarshel, but stopped when they saw that the cargo consisted exclusively of quality arms and
armor that had been ordered by Impiltur's friend and ally, Baron Gareth Dragonsbane of Bloodstone.
A heavy caravan of the Damaran Merchants League in Heliogabalus already was waiting in Ilmwatch to
transport the cargo northward. War Captain Admiral Rilaunyr had given a company of 200 Swords and Wands
of Impiltur orders to escort the caravan to Goliad, just inside the border of the Duchy of Brandiar, which was
allied with Baron Gareth. The Impilturians had orders to use all due force to end any hostile action by
Carmathan, Ostel or Morov.
Mirtul
As the month began, a small caravan of 12 men with Calishite accents and three wagons of supplies entered
Heliogabalus. The only residents of the city who took particular note of the 12 were members of Tightpurse, the
city's thieves guild. To the chagrin of Tightpurse, the 12 men seemed to vanish once they entered the city.
Shandaril too received word of their coming, and her Iron Throne underlings saw to it that the men melted into
the fabric of the former capital and became all but invisible there. Her expert problem solvers, 10 highly
talented assassins and two high level magi who used their magic to help fulfill death contracts, had arrived.
They were assigned to begin studying the ways of the city with a special eye on Tightpurse, but to slay no one
yet.
Less then a tenday had passed, however, before that order was revised. Throne agents learned that two
members of Tightpurse had witnessed and reported on the arrival of the Calishites, and these two possibly
could identify some of the assassins. Shandaril ordered the death of the two Tightpurse members. Both
vanished without a trace before the end of the month.
Tightpurse Guildmaster Tarkos Ree thought that the disappearance of both witnesses in such a brief time was
no coincidence. He sent orders through the ranks of Tightpurse to seek out the 12 men with Calishite accents,
but to no avail. Shandaril's assassins walked the streets of Heliogabalus alone rather than as a group, and
they did nothing that would make them stand out. The 12 remained an enigma to Tightpurse.
Impilturian agents also had observed the 12 men as they made their way from New Sarshel northward in the
Great Dale over Uthmere, Uthving and Timbertown. They then went up the smugglers trail on the western eave
of Rawlinswood to the upper ford on the Lench and into Damaran Lenchford, carefully avoiding Impilturian soil.
The Impilturians reported that the 12 men drew their suspicion because they had spent a full tenday in New
Sarshel, and while they were there, they appeared to have conferred regularly with Sembians suspected of
being Iron Throne operatives.
Spysong too had heard of the small caravan that traveled from Lenchford over Trailsend to Praka, Portith and
Heliogabalus, but it had taken no particular notice because there had been nothing to distinguish it from other
small caravans.
After receiving the Impilturian reports, Celedon Kierney and Riordan Parnell told the members of Spysong to try
to learn more about the 12 men. They learned that the caravan leaders had bribed customs agents in Trailsend
and Praka to not inspect their wagons.
At that point, however, Spysong came to a dead end. Spysong was helpless in Heliogabalus. The city
operated on a much different level than the rest of Damara, and its ways were alien to the members of
Spysong. The organization knew almost nothing about Heliogabalus or the things that took place within its
walls. What the 12 men were doing there, or, whether they indeed still were there, were questions Spysong
could not answer.
The Calishite assassins were, in fact, doing many things. They were learning to speak with a Damaran accent.
They were visiting clothiers and barbers who outfitted and trimmed them to give them more of a native look.
Others were training them in the infrastructure and the history of Heliogabalus. For another 10 months, they
would do nothing else in the Throne's service.
The Mirtul council in Bloodstone Village occupied itself with various matters:
• Construction of the new Vaasan wall was started. The Orothiar dwarves had taken control of the project
and had used the winter months to recruit the services of humans and clanless dwarves in Impiltur, the
Great Dale, Thesk and the Vast, increasing the population of Bloodstone Pass by nearly 1,000.
• In the wake of the Battle of the Vanished, Duke Olwen had a greater opportunity than ever to scour the
vast eastern areas of his duchy of monsters and bandits, and to free the mines on the southern flank of
the Eastern Galenas, but he had fewer men than ever to do the job. The problem was solved in part by
the assignment of additional troops from the Bloodstone Army, but the council was agreed that Soravia
must be more heavily populated again. It decided to send messengers out throughout the Cold Lands,
the Unapproachable East and into the Western Heartlands to invite those of a pioneering spirit to come to
Soravia, where sizeable grants of fertile farmlands were available to those willing to settle them and to
help defend the duchy.
• Duke Dormythyrr reported that peace reigned in the Duchy of Brandiar. He said many of the natives who
had fled had returned the previous year and had begun reconstruction. More had begun returning in late
Tarsakh, he said, and there also were many people migrating into Brandiar from Carmathan, Morov and
Ostel, where the population was dissatisfied with the nobility.
• Duke Olwen said that Soravia had begun clearing a new road along its border with Morov, following the
northern eave of the Lakewood. The road would connect Kinbrace directly with the road from Morovar to
Goliad. The latter road was the Carmathian-Soravian border, but the road itself lay within Soravia. Once
completed - probably in Flamerule - it would be possible for caravans to travel to and from Impiltur to
reach their destinations without crossing the territory of Carmathan, Morov or Ostel, the duke said.
One man's joy can be another's grief. The Impilturian boycott of goods from Carmathan, Morov and Ostel was
beginning to pinch the economy of the three provinces substantially. A large Impilturian caravan guarded by
100 members of the Sword and Wand of Impiltur forged northward near month's end and crossed Morovian
territory between Heliogabalus and the Soravian border. Baron Dimian Ree's soldiers did not interfere.
The news of Duke Olwen's cutting of a road north of the Lakewood caused many alarm bells to sound in the
financial quarters of Heliogabalus. The only feasible routes northward required a ferry crossing from Trailsend
to Praka or from Withermeet or Daleport to Heliogabalus followed by the northward ride through Morov. In both
cases, important trade was required to pass through Heliogabalus, the financial and business center of Damara.
Duke Olwen's road would have detoured trade around Heliogabalus, making the city in the long run superfluous
to those who did business in Damara. The leaders of the Damaran Merchants League - with the Iron Throne
affiliates among them speaking the loudest - were outraged at this threat and placed the full blame at the feet of
Morov's Baron Dimian Ree, who already had been squeezed out of the free city itself.
The merchants had little love for or interest in Ree or Bloodstone's Baron Gareth in their own right. Rulers,
nobles and politicians were a lower order of life to most of the businessmen of Heliogabalus. But there was one
thing they expected and demanded from those who rule: The channels of business must be kept open and be
allowed to thrive.
In that sense, Ree not only was a failure but the very cause of that failure. It was clear that Baron Gareth of
Bloodstone had won the wars. Ree should have been wise and allied himself with Dragonsbane, the merchants
believed. Instead he had forged a hopeless alliance against Dragonsbane. That alliance now was driving the
three remaining partners in that alliance - Carmathan, Ostel and Ree's own Morov - into financial ruin, and it
was posing a serious threat to Heliogabalus as well, which had been meticulous in staying out of the Ree-
Dragonsbane conflict.
In heated meetings of the league's leadership, a few minority voices argued that Heliogabalus would have been
wiser to throw its own hat in with Dragonsbane rather than remaining neutral. Had it sided with the inevitable,
they said, the interests of Heliogabalus would have been considered rather than simply rerouting traffic around
the city.
Although there were disagreements on that point, the council leadership agreed by a narrow margin that Dimian
Ree must go. The council had been divided between various factions - the Renewers, who were near to the
Iron Throne, the Royalists, who wanted the old Damaran kingdom restored, and immigrant Impilturian
merchants from Hlammach. Most of the Impilturians sided with the Renewers, while the Royalists were against
acting against Ree because of his royal blood.
After long discussions, the divided council adopted a proposal from Jeevis Beckmann, a bloodstone merchant
who had come from Sembia and was a covert Iron Throne operative. Beckmann said the council members
should appropriate a fund of 150,000 gold talers. With it, they could buy a mansion fitting for a baron in coastal
Selgaunt in Sembia, transport him and his household to live there in exile and pay him 50,000 gold talers to
finance his new life.
A delegation of the league traveled at month's end to Morovar and presented its proposal to the baron, but he
rejected it outright. Ree told the league members that he was a rightful heir to the Damaran crown, and he still
intended to claim the throne. The current situation, he said, was only a temporary setback. The tide would turn
in his favor, Ree said, and the day would come when Damara would recognize him as its king.
Kythorn
The Kythorn council in Bloodstone Village pondered the ongoing attacks by vampires in the North. Reports of
vampire bites had come from Bloodstone Village, Virdin, Windless, the reopened Bloodstone Mines, Goliad and
Ostrav. Rangers also brought word of vampire bites in Vaasan Darmshall as well. Friar Dugald said the
vampire attacks were anything but normal and that one must find out what is behind them, but the answers, he
said, were beyond the abilities of his church in Damara.
The number of bitten victims since late autumn had climbed into the low 100s. Not a single victim had suffered
any long term effects to date and no trace or tracks from a vampire ever had been found, other than the telltale
wounds left on the victim's throat and signs that blood had been lost.
Friar Dugald speculated that the vampires might be upon another plane, shifting to the material only long
enough to feed and then returning. If that were the case, he said, the vampires might have no real interest in
the material plane and therefore have no motivation to create spawn upon it.
Quillan the Sage said the bites might come from some other heretofore unknown source rather than being
vampires, perhaps from some small, flying creature that had the same appearance as a known bird, but
Rulmgar deemed that unlikely. He said the attacks also took place in winter in buildings that were fully barred
and shuttered.
Such pseudo-birds, he said, would need the magical ability to pass walls. In addition, he said, the attackers
probably were invisible as well. Emelyn the Grey said rather than passing walls, the attackers might be able to
teleport themselves to a victim and away again.
Celedon Kierney and Riordan Parnell reported that Spysong rangers continued to spot Dragon Cult bands on
the Vaasan side of the Galenas. The cultists, he said, appeared to be coming from the Moonsea region, but the
bodies of other bands with whom the cultists had clashed had clear identification showing them as being
followers of Tiamat from Unther. Both factions seemed to have the ruins of Castle Perilous as their goal.
Duke Olwen said his forces were making slow but steady progress in cleansing Eastern Soravia and the
southeastern face of the Galenas of the remnants of Zhengyi's forces. Most of the monsters, he said, had
become divided into small bands led by an ogre or an orc. These bands raided and plundered rather than trying
to conquer and occupy, the duke said.
Olwen questioned whether it might not be better to focus on first reopening gold and silver mines in the Galenas
rather than concentrating upon bloodstone. He noted that the bloodstone market continued to be depressed.
Finance Minister Rulmgar said that bloodstone prices continued to fluctuate between 15 and 17 gold talers per
bar, compared to 25 gold talers before Zhengyi's time. However, little bloodstone was, in fact, being sold
anywhere.
Rulmgar said most of the bloodstone being won was, as usual, transported to the halls of the Orothiar Clan,
who processed it and formed bloodstone bars for the Royal Impilturian Bloodstone Trust, but the bars remained
for the most part in the Orothiar vaults, waiting for orders.
The continued depression of the bloodstone market, Rulmgar said, should not, however, lead to decisions to
turn away from bloodstone as a key source of income. A substantial portion of the governmental treasuries in
such diverse places as Impiltur, Sembia, Cormyr, Zhentil Keep, Mulmaster, Melvaunt and even distant western
and southern locations like Calimshan, Amn, Tethyr, Baldur's Gate, Waterdeep, Neverwinter and Silverymoon
consisted of bloodstone bars.
Rulmgar said all of these nations and city-states continued to experience a 40% reduction in the value of the
bloodstone reserves in their treasuries as long as the bloodstone market remained depressed. This, he said, is
tantamount to a tremendous loss of money for all of these governments. As soon as some of these
governments would have a need to begin planning the use of some of their reserves, they would be forced to
spend gold and silver to order bloodstone, to stimulate the market and to bring the value of their reserves back
up again.
It would begin to occur to some governments, Rulmgar predicted, that they could make substantial purchases of
bloodstone bars at 60% of the normal market price. By doing so, they would cause a certain increase in the
market value of bloodstone. Finance ministers elsewhere would note this possibility and would not want to miss
out on capitalizing on the low market value either. With each substantial purchase, the market price would rise,
he said.
Rulmgar said he already had developed a strategy to revive the bloodstone market as quickly as possible. He
said he would sell to the first powers who ordered bloodstone whatever quantities they ordered at 15 gold talers
per bar. If ordered, Rulmgar said, he would sell the entire contents of the Orothiar vaults.
After the initial sales, however, Rulmgar said he planned to hoard about half of what the Orothiar Clan could
produce, which would make the bloodstone supply seem more limited than actually was the case. This would
increase market interest in what bloodstone was available and cause the price to rise more rapidly than a sale
of the full production.
Once prices returned to the old level of 25 gold talers, Rulmgar said, he gradually would begin selling
bloodstone bars in a normal manner again. He said the only thing needed to make his theory work would be a
large, initial order. He predicted that some government, somewhere, within the next year would become
nervous over the depressed value of its bloodstone reserves and set the ball rolling.
In mid-Kythorn, Shandaril of Heliogabalus used her magic to travel to a long-planned conference in Sembian
Ordulin, where the triumvirate of the Iron Throne discussed the state of affairs within its own organization.
Dalton Krenn and Hagurd agreed that events had gone well to date in Damara and Vaasa.
Krenn said he was particularly pleased that Baron Gareth had ignored his opportunity to quickly reunite Damara
into a strong kingdom. He was certain that Damara would reunite soon, and he assumed Gareth Dragonsbane
would be its next king, but more than 13 years as a divided land had taught many Damarans to see their own
regional interests better than had been the case in earlier times.
The new Damaran kingdom probably would be militarily stronger than its predecessor, but it would rule internal
affairs with a much weaker hand, he predicted. That, of course, was very much to the Throne's liking. The
weaker a government was internally, the easier the Throne could spread its tentacles through the land.
Krenn said the Throne should do all it could to place Dragonsbane upon the Damaran Throne. The paladin was
slow to act and reluctant to make decisions, he said, which was to the Throne's overwhelming advantage.
When it came to critical problems, the Throne would be able to make fast decisions and implement them, while
the king would hesitate until he had no alternative but to deal with matters after the fact.
Dragonsbane still was young, Krenn said, and probably would spend at least three decades on the Damaran
throne. This, he predicted, would set the tenor of Damaran governments to come, all to the advantage of the
Throne.
The inability of Dragonsbane's Spysong to bring its ear into Heliogabalus indicated why the new monarchy
would be ideal from the Throne's viewpoint. However, Krenn warned Shandaril to keep an eye upon
Bloodstone's Impilturian Finance Minister Rulmgar. Krenn said the Throne was fully familiar with Rulmgar's
background.
Rulmgar was a native of Impiltur's money city, Hlammach. He was street savvy and a whiz in economics, Krenn
said. He also was a wily, slippery character who had a talent for survival, and he shared none of the Ilmatari
reservations over concluding problems with deadly violence, even if its legality was questionable.
Krenn warned Shandaril to keep distance between Throne operations and Rulmgar and to avoid conflict with
him. The Throne well might win such a conflict in time, Krenn said, but it would be costly to the Throne. Profits
were the Throne's goal, Krenn said, not costs.
The issue of bloodstone prices also came up in Ordulin. Krenn said if others began driving bloodstone prices
up, the Throne would attempt to buy early enough too, to be able to take advantage of the low prices. However,
the extent to which the Throne would become active in the bloodstone market would be based more on the
extent to which the Throne could bring a part of the bloodstone trade itself into its own hands.
Impiltur's bloodstone production was not large enough at present to be of value to the Throne in its own right,
Krenn said. Since the fall of Zhengyi, the only significant bloodstone being taken in Damara or Vaasa was from
the Bloodstone Mines, which in normal times were administered by the Royal Damaran Bloodstone Trust, an
agency of the Kingdom of Damara.
Since Zhengyi's fall, bloodstone bars produced from the Bloodstone Mines' were being sold directly by Rulmgar,
but Krenn said he was certain that Dragonsbane would restore the trust’s rights to bloodstone from the mines
once the Damaran kingdom was restored.
The question then, Krenn said, is what would happen to the remaining yield of bloodstone. Before Zhengyi's
rise, substantial bloodstone also had been taken from Justin's Mine, Darmshall in Vaasa and smaller mines on
both the Damaran and Vaasa sides of the Galenas. Almost all of the yields of these mines had been taken to
Ironspur, where the dwarves, offspring of the Sarphil Empire, produced bloodstone bars.
In those days, Krenn said, the Damaran Merchants League in Heliogabalus had an exclusive contract with
Ironspur to buy all of the bloodstone bars produced there. Shandaril reminded Krenn that her operatives had
infiltrated the guild to an extent where the Throne had gained a strong voice in shaping all significant decisions.
In addition, her operatives had convinced the league to enter into a partnership agreement with the wholly
owned Throne subsidiary Fallen Star Holding Co. in Impilturian Hlammach.
Krenn said these achievements were admirable in their own right, but the impact they might have in the
bloodstone trade remained to be seen. Justin's Mine had belonged to the Damaran Merchants League, but the
league had made no investment in its liberation, Krenn said. This could prove to be shortsighted, Krenn said,
because Duke Olwen might claim the mine as property of the Soravian Duchy.
The Ironspur dwarven clan doubtless would maintain its own ownership of its mines, which the dwarves were
reclaiming with little outside help. If the merchants' league or a front of the Throne itself could gain control of
Justin's Mine, then the Throne could bring a respectable share of the private bloodstone market into its own
hands, Krenn said. On the other hand, if both Justin's Mine and Ironspur remained beyond the Throne's reach,
the Throne would be able to play a role only in the marketing of bloodstone bars, but it would not be a player at
ground level.
If the market permitted, Krenn said, he would prefer to wait and see how these things developed before
deciding whether to invest Throne funds in the purchase of bloodstone bars and, if so, how much to buy. If the
Throne bought too soon, he said, the investment might have little impact upon market prices. The Throne then
would have invested its money in a stale commodity that would earn less in the long run than other investments,
despite the low bloodstone prices.
If, on the other hand, the Throne decided to make substantial Bloodstone purchases at some point, it also would
exert its extensive influence upon the Sembian government to do the same, which would considerably
strengthen the tendency of bloodstone prices to climb.
The Iron Throne was not the only organization pondering the bloodstone market in early summer of the Year of
Maidens. At the request of Sememmon in Darkhold, the ruling triumvirate of the Zhentarim was conducting a
magical conference on the same topic only a day after the Ordulin meeting.
The treasury of Darkhold had held substantial reserves of bloodstone bars, which for more than a dozen years
had remained at about 60% of the value they had claimed before Zhengyi overran the Bloodstone Mines, 60%
of the price Sememmon had paid for them.
The situation was similar in the Zhentarim treasuries in the Citadel of the Raven where Manshoon sat and in
Zhentil Keep, where Fzoul Chembryl led the Zhentarim. In the keep, the bloodstone matter was of even greater
import, because both the Zhentarim and the city government of the keep had substantial bloodstone reserves.
Of the three, Sememmon was the first to lose his patience with the bloodstone market. At that time, he still had
maintained hopes of rebuilding the military of Darkhold to the strength it had known before the Time of Troubles,
but a large part of his treasury had been reduced to 60% of its previous value. He was arguing that the
Zhentarim should use a substantial share of its non-bloodstone reserves to buy bloodstone, which he argued
would overcome other governments' reluctance to invest in bloodstone and would cause its price to return to the
old level.
Chembryl was strongly against such purchases. He said he doubted that bloodstone investments by the
Zhentarim alone would stimulate the market to return to its old levels. As a result, he argued, the Zhentarim
would turn fluid reserves of gold, silver and gems into a static reserve commodity that would gain slightly in
value but would be accepted only reluctantly by others in payment.
Manshoon was undecided at first. He saw merits in both arguments and agreed with Sememmon that the 40%
loss in bloodstone values that the Zhentarim had incurred a dozen years earlier needed to be reversed. He also
agreed that the Zhentarim should be on the leading edge of investment when it bought more bloodstone, to gain
the most profit from rising prices.
However, he also shared Chembryl's concerns that the Black Network might invest substantially in bloodstone,
but no one else would follow, leaving too large a part of the Zhentarim treasury stagnant with a commodity that
often would be refused as legitimate payment.
It was at that moment that Hagurd, Chembryl's agent in the upper echelons of the Iron Throne in Ordulin, made
contact with his leader and told him what the Throne had decided. Chembryl passed the message on, and
Manshoon reached his decision. He said the Zhentarim would wait until Hagurd informed them of the Throne's
decision to buy. At that point, Manshoon said, the Zhentarim would invest heavily in low-priced bloodstone.
What the Zhentarim did, Zhentil Keep also would do, and what the Iron Throne did, Sembia also would do,
Manshoon said. If all four placed large orders for bloodstone at the same time, Manshoon argued, no other
power would want to be left out in the rain. Within a little time, he predicted, bloodstone process would soar
back to their old level or perhaps higher.
Flamerule
The Flamerule council in Bloodstone Village was confronted with more unsettling news. Official Impilturian
visitors passed on the message that members of a Zhentish party in Vaasa had informed Zhentil Keep that drow
elves were encountered in Vaasa and that both sides suffered casualties when the dark elves and the Zhents
fought one another. The Impilturians had no further information.
There never had been any word of drow in Vaasa throughout the land's history, including in Zhengyi's time.
There also was no evidence that Zhengyi had had any connections with drow. That posed questions then:
From where did the dark elves come and what were they seeking in Vaasa?
A merchant caravan coming from Darmshall reported that travel from there to Bloodstone Pass continued to be
extremely dangerous and possible only with escorts of large troop contingents. The merchants said that
Sunderland remained contested territory. Large numbers of orcs and goblins continued to be holed up in the
Black Holes, and most of these bands seemed to be led by goat's head priests. The caravan members could
not say whether the goat's head priests had spell powers.
Spysong rangers working in Vaasa substantiated the merchants' tale. They had observed several raiding bands
emerging from various black holes, and most were led by men wearing the goat's head robe. In one case a
ranger also came upon a scene where a battle had taken place. The corpses of more than a dozen orcs and
goblins, a goat's head priest and four drow were found there.
The rangers brought the council the medallions that they had taken from the drow bodies. The medallions
showed a female drow hand with silver rings on the fingers. Friar Dugald recognized the symbol. He said it
represented a lower level drow goddess who was little known outside drow domains in Faerûn. The drow
named the goddess Kiaransalee and the Vengeful Banshee, Dugald said. She was believed to be the drow
deity of vengeance and the undead. He could not guess what her followers might be seeking in Vaasa.
Celedon Kierney and Riordan Parnell reported that most rangers in northern Damara and Vaasa who were
known to them had joined Spysong's ranks. In past months, they said, Spysong had begun focusing its activity
much more upon Vaasa than had been the case earlier, because of the ever-increasing and competing
activities of various outside interests there.
Kierney offered the following summary:
• The Moonsea cities Zhentil Keep, Melvaunt and Mulmaster all had scouting parties on Dead Man's Walk,
and a few small but well protected Zhentish caravans had made their way up Garumn's Climb and down
the Walk into Vaasa. This route was not under the clear control of any of these rival parties yet. On the
contrary, there were indications of battles between them on Garumn's Climb.
• A second group was breaking a southern route into Vaasa that it called Gramble's Climb. Parnell said
that this probably was an operation sponsored by the Harpers of the West. Harper activity in the
Bloodstone Lands had been minimal up until that time. The Harper link, he said, had been reported by
some bards working for Spysong. Parnell could not say whether the Harpers were of the Shadowdale or
Berdusk faction.
• The remnants of Zhengyi's host and their goat's head priest leaders seemed to be working in separate
bands rather than being an organization. Spysong had not succeeded in learning whether the priests had
access to divine magic. However, they and their followers were numerous, and they were in firm control
of the Black Holes of Sunderland.
• Parties of Dragon Cultists and Untheric followers of Tiamat continued to be seen in Vaasa and clashed
whenever they met. It appeared that they were competing in some way over the dragons who were
lairing in the ruins of Castle Perilous, but their motives were unclear.
• Half-orcs had organized in Eastern Vaasa and were fighting to drive the remnants of Zhengyi's hordes out
of Palishchuk. Spysong had not yet determined what the goals of the fighting half-orcs would be.
Kierney and Parnell repeated their earlier recommendations that Baron Gareth act soon to claim Vaasa in
Damara's name. Both said that too many outside interests were beginning to take root in Vaasa, and they could
pose a long-term threat to Damara.
Parnell said Spysong also had won the support of some bards who frequent Heliogabalus, and the organization
at last had the door to the secretive city slightly ajar, but it would take more involvement and considerable time
before Spysong could begin to say who the true powers in the free city were or what was transpiring in the
former capital.
However, Parnell said that it was clear that the merchants of Heliogabalus were becoming increasingly
dissatisfied with the Central Alliance of Carmathan, Morov and Ostel. The free city wanted stability in Damara
to bring trade back to its former levels. Dimian Ree's alliance blocked this return to stability, in their opinion.
Their unrest was strongly underlined by their fear of the road Duke Olwen was building on the north eave of the
Lakewood, which would detour business around Heliogabalus.
Parnell suggested that Bloodstone, Arcata, Brandiar, Soravia and Polten declare a Damaran Alliance and bring
its individual militias under the joint command of Baron Gareth. He said that both Spysong and the bards of
Damara believed that the lack of a truly united front among the allies remained a motivating factor for
Carmathan, Morov and Ostel to continue in their alliance.
Emelyn the Grey said the Twilight Riders were seeing clearly that the foundations were beginning to slip from
beneath these three governments. Support among the populations was dwindling. The military forces of all
three provinces were weak. Their greatest strength, he said, was the fact that no one was moving against
them.
He said that Burgomaster Tom Haystacks of Brotha in northern Ostel had organized a strong force of rebels
that was prepared to move against Baroness Sylvia and drive her military and supporters out of Ostel's northern
grain belt. Haystacks had strong support in Portith as well, he said, where trade on the road to Heliogabalus
was the main source of income.
The only problem, Emelyn said, was that Morov and Carmathan as well as the rest of Ostel surrounded the
rebellious area. Haystacks and his followers feared that Dimian Ree might order his own troops and those of
his declared ally Carmathan to quickly put down the rebellion. Morov and Carmathan each had about 200
troops stationed within their borders in this area.
Haystacks and his followers would be more encouraged to act, Emelyn said, if there were a concentration of
Bloodstone alliance troops on the Soravian border just north of Morovar, less than a day's ride from Brotha and
Portith. Parnell added that the three Central Alliance governments were well aware that Baron Gareth could
move upon them at any time, still asserting his right as victor of the Bloodstone Wars to claim the three
provinces.
He said Ree would stop short of any action that might provoke an invasion of Morov, because the military of the
Central Alliance was far too weak to stand against the Bloodstone host.
Quillan the Sage said the two issues - the formation of a Damaran Alliance and the stationing of troops on the
border to Morov - should be discussed separately. He thought the formation of a Damaran Alliance would be
wise, but it should be discussed thoroughly with Baron Donlevy the Young and his advisors in Polten.
Quillan said the slow pace with which Damara was healing had led to the formation of a vocal faction in Polten
that was urging the young baron to withdraw completely from allegiance to a Damara that no longer existed.
They argued that Polten would have a more prosperous and safer future if it were to petition for annexation into
the Impilturian kingdom.
One should hear Polten's thoughts on what things might be set into motion within the barony by the formation of
an alliance with an army under central command, Quillan said. One also should weigh the alternative of at first
forming a Northern Alliance without Polten, if that was the politically better alternative for Polten, the sage said.
Quillan said Burgomaster Haystacks should be informed that the council would reach a decision over the winter
on the question of providing backup troops to support a rebellion in northern Ostel, with no further moves being
made until spring. He said any combat that would start now could destroy the crops within the prime agriculture
areas of the Central Alliance. While the destruction of crops might provide some military advantages, Quillan
said, the people who would suffer hunger from it would be fellow Damarans in Carmathan, Morov and Ostel.
At the end of the council, Baron Gareth agreed to the council's recommendations:
• Emelyn the Grey would be sent to Trailsend to discuss the alliance proposal with Baron Donlevy the
Young and his advisors, with instructions to report back in Eleasias.
• The council would discuss support for a rebellion in northern Ostel in winter and send Emelyn the Grey to
Brotha to discuss the decision with Burgomaster Haystack in Ches or Tarsakh, as the weather permitted.
Eleasias
All of the factions within Damara breathed with ease as summer began drawing to a close. Chauntea had been
generous; all of the land’s agricultural areas were promising to yield bumper crops. Because no one was
posing any imminent threat to anyone else at that time, leaders of the various provinces of Damara focused
their thoughts more upon preparing for the harvest than upon strategies of politics and war.
In Heliogabalus, Iron Throne leader Shandaril looked at things in a similar light. The promising harvest opened
many opportunities to the Throne, so many that it was not yet in a condition to take advantage of all of them.
The sale of agricultural commodities and products made from them had not been an important point in the
Throne's programs to date. Nonetheless, the wizardess sent orders out for the Throne's fronts and cover
organizations to prepare to cash in on as much of this business as they could.
To Shandaril’s great chagrin, she would be able to gain little advantage from a great opportunity the bumper
crops would open. Shandaril knew that farmers could be drawn into making quick capital investments when
their pockets are filled with gold talers from an unexpectedly good harvest. The Throne in Sembia had earned a
fortune several years earlier convincing farmers to expand after a bumper crop.
The Throne also lent the farmers the money they had borrowed to expand. When the farmers were unable to
pay their debts the following year, the Throne offered to have its claims satisfied by entering into partnerships as
co-owners of the farms rather than claiming the mortgaged farms. Through this tactic, the Throne gained rather
quick control of Sembia’s agricultural market.
Unfortunately from Shandaril’s point of view, she had neither the necessary capital nor the right kind of
manpower in sufficient numbers to do what the Throne had done in Sembia. She could only wait and hope that
such an opportunity would rise again.
In the Eleasias council in Bloodstone Village, Emelyn the Grey reported that both Baron Donlevy the Young and
his counselor, Chancellor Dargun, were in full agreement with the proposed proclamation of the Damaran
Alliance. Polten also wanted full membership in such an alliance, the wizards said. The council decided to
conduct its Eleint meeting in Trailsend, the baronial seat of Polten, in a show of support to the entire South.
During that meeting, the treaties would be signed to seal the alliance.
Celedon Kierney brought the news that a new hamlet named Highsong had been established in southwestern
Vaasa past the foot of the reopened Gramble’s Climb. Spysong said the settlement clearly was founded with
the strong support of the Harpers, and that most indications were that the Twilight Hall faction was responsible.
A small and still ramshackle inn called Gramble’s Foot had been established, and the church of Lathander was
building a temple.
Spysong reported that a number of high level magi, rangers and fighters were in Highsong. They also said a
raiding party of probable Harpers had attacked and captured a small Zhentish caravan on Dead Man’s Walk in
Vaasa east of Nigel’s Ford. The captured cargo, Spysong reported, consisted of weapons and army destined
for Duke Helmont XV of Carmathan.
Riordan Parnell said Spysong rangers had spoken with rangers in Highsong. The latter had made no mention
of the Harpers but were otherwise quite open in discussing their intentions. The Highsong rangers said that the
new settlement was the third stepping stone in a route that would cross southern Vaasa leading from Gramble’s
Climb to Darmshall.
The first stepping stone, they said, was a small harbor called Falconstar built upon the ruins of Hulburg on the
northeastern shore of the Moonsea. Their second stepping stone was a fortified village they had built named
Threshold at the western foot of the Galenas inside Thar.
They told the Spysong rangers that their efforts were a counter to movements by the Zhentarim and other
Moonsea elements who had extensive plans to open a trade route through Vaasa along Dead Man’s Walk.
They said that the city of Glister in Thar was growing in expectation of heavy traffic from the Zhents and others,
and that the Zhentarim already had built a fortified outpost named Twilight’s Veil at the crest of Garumn’s Climb
in the Western Galenas above Dead Man’s Walk.
Twilight’s Veil had been embattled for several months, the Spysong rangers said, after the Zhentarim attempted
to use it to stop caravans from Melvaunt and Mulmaster. Magi from Mulmaster had destroyed part of the walls
of Twilight’s Veil, with a three-front battle taking place within the village, between the Zhents, the Mulman forces
and those from Melvaunt.
At last, after each faction had lost more than half of its men and they together had destroyed much of the
outpost, the warring captains reached their own private truce. The walls were being reconstructed, the Spysong
rangers said, and a few outsiders were coming into town and beginning to rebuild some facilities.
Kierney and Parnell again urged Baron Gareth to proclaim the Damaran Kingdom and to claim Vaasa, before
the activity of the Harpers, the Zhentarim and others there became impossible to control. Dragonsbane
predicted that such activity would come to an end in less than two months, when winter would begin to set in.
He said he would see if the new year would make conditions more favorable to the proclamation of a kingdom.
Duke Olwen of Soravia reported that the foe at last had been routed from Justin’s Mine. He said Soravia would
do what it could before the onset of winter to restore the mine, but it would not be fit to resume operations until
the following summer. He said that the Ironspur dwarves also had succeeded in reclaiming their mines and
hoped to have them restored over winter. Soravian troops still were cleaning out other mines on the
southeastern face of the East Galenas that had been abandoned to Zhengyi’s horde, he said.
Kierney said Spysong rangers had reported that most of the East Galenas were cleansed of remnants of
Zhengyi’s army. Some force, Kierney said, had held many of the monsters in a state of confusion, and most
were happy to flee northwestward, back to the West Galenas, whence they had come.
Spysong rangers in the east also reported that a large and organized force of half-orcs who had been driven
from their homes by Zhengyi had survived during his reign as a bandit army in the East Galenas, preying on
Zhengyi’s own troops. The band, numbering nearly 800, had conquered Palishchuk in northeastern Vaasa,
slaying all of the orcs and hobgoblins that had been holed up there.
After that, the half-orcs had begun clearing the High Walk, to reopen the trail from Palishchuk to Ironspur.
During that operation, which ended in early Flamerule, Kierney said, the half-orcs came upon the rear of several
hundred ogres, orcs and goblins fighting the Ironspur dwarves on the other side.
The half-orcs attacked viciously from the rear, pinching the monster force between two fronts, which brought
about its quick defeat. Extraordinary as it may seem, the Ironspur dwarves and the Palishchuk half-orcs then
swore friendship with each other and made a virtual pact of mutual support and defense.
Baron Gareth agreed that events in Vaasa were demanding attention on Damara’s part, if Damara desired to
play a long-term role in Vaasa’s further development or future. He asked Emelyn the Grey to return in a tenday.
During that time, he said, he and Quillan the Sage would work out a proposal for the leaders of Hillsafar Hall,
Darmshall and Palishchuk. He hoped that the Twilight Riders would deliver his proposal before winter set in, so
that all parties could begin contemplating their future in the cold months.
Eleint
The bridge month began with new alarms sounding over spreading vampirism and ended with the most
bountiful Damaran harvest in 20 years. An expanded Bloodstone Council met in during the second tenday in
Trailsend, with Baron Donlevy and his counselor Dargun as hosts and Duke Tarun of Arcata and Duke
Dormythyrr of Brandiar in attendance.
As Eleint continued, the reports of victims being bitten by vampires who left no tracks, infected no victims with
vampirism and claimed no lives mounted to heretofore unknown levels. Reports of vampire attacks had come in
from Bloodstone Village, Windless, Virdin, the Waukeshire and the Orothiar dwarven halls in the Barony of
Bloodstone, Goliad in Brandiar, the halls of the Ironspur dwarves and the reopened Justin’s Mine in Soravia and
from Highsong, Hillsafar Hall, Darmshall and Palishchuk in Vaasa.
Some council members questioned whether the ruins of Castle Perilous and the fortress atop Suncatcher
Mountain should be attacked, because those seemed to be the lair and homing point of the dragons in
Zhengyi’s ruins. All members of the council had become convinced that the vampires were associated with the
dragon flights between the Vaasan ruins and the mountain fortress.
Baron Gareth said he had little doubt that such a war would be necessary one day, but he and his allied
provinces really needed to reserve their strength for dealing with the Central Alliance, if necessary, rather than
waging war with the dragons holed up in the ruins of Castle Perilous. Spysong had estimated that about 50 red,
white, blue, green and black dragons were lairing in the ruins.
Baron Gareth said a war against 50 dragons would result in horrendous losses for the Bloodstone Army and
well might lead to its utter defeat. He said he had no idea how to attack the fortress atop Suncatcher, because
there was no way of which he knew to lead an army up the mountain. The only way to the peak of Suncatcher
short of flying, the baron said, was a torturous foot trail over the triple ridge southeast of the mountain, a trail
that only the fittest could survive.
As in other sessions, the council ended its discussion of the topic without agreeing upon any action. The
vampires, who still had not been seen by anyone, continued to be a riddle for which no council member had a
solution.
After briefly discussing the bountiful harvest, which was in full progress at the time, the council turned to Quillan
the Sage, who explained the new government structure that he and Baron Gareth were planning once the
situation with Carmathan, Morov and Ostel in Damara had been resolved. He said when and if any of the three
provincial governments would fall, Baron Gareth would immediately appoint a new duke or baron, based on his
victor’s rights as a result of the Bloodstone Wars.
Once all of the Damaran provinces were reunited, Quillan said, Baron Gareth would not proclaim the revived
Damaran Kingdom but rather the Bloodstone Kingdom with Gareth claiming the new throne in Bloodstone
Village. The kingdom would consist of two princedoms, Damara and Vaasa. Gareth would appoint Quillan as
the Prince of Damara, with Heliogabalus as capital of the princedom, and Darren Thunderclap, Lord of
Darmshall, as Prince of Vaasa, with Darmshall as the capital.
The boundaries of Free City of Heliogabalus and the seven of the eight Damaran duchies and baronies would
remain unchanged, as would the nobles who were ruling Brandiar, Arcata, Soravia and Polten. Hobart
Bracegirdle, the halfling warrior native to the Waukeshire, would succeed King Gareth as Baron of Bloodstone.
The boundaries of Soravia would be changed to remove all of the East Galenas except Justin’s mine. The
Princedom of Vaasa would be divided into the Duchy of Ironspur and two baronies: Sunderland and
Palishchuk:
• Garumbelly Hillsafar would be named the Baron of Sunderland, which would consist of all of Vaasa south
of Dead Man’s Walk including the East Galenas southwest of the Barony of Bloodstone.
• Wingham, the half-orc chieftain, would be named Baron of Palishchuk, which would include all of Vaasa
north of Dead Man’s Walk except for the East Galenas and White Worm.
• Murnaros, chieftain of the Ironspur clan, would be named Duke of Ironspur, which would include all of the
East Galenas northeast of the Barony of Bloodstone and the Bloodstone Mines, except for Justin’s Mine,
which would remain Soravian. Ironspur was proclaimed a duchy, because the dwarven clan long had
called its chieftain the High Iron Duke.
The discussion of the proposal had barely begun when a messenger arrived in Trailsend from Baron Damian
Ree in Morov. His message was brief and to the point. Ree wrote that he had come into possession of
genealogical information that in his mind clearly showed that his mother had been two family links closer to the
royal Bloodfeathers line than the family of old Baron Tranth.
Ree wrote that he had sent his evidence to the monks of the Monastery of the Yellow Rose for research. If their
findings confirmed his evidence, Ree wrote, he would be the clear heir to the Damaran throne, and he would
expect Baron Gareth and the other provincial leaders to swear fealty to him.
Ree’s message fired off a two-day debate in the council. In the end, the council unanimously agreed with the
recommendations of Quillan the Sage. He said the council should forge forward with the proposal he and Baron
Gareth had made for the new Bloodstone kingdom, but the council should take no action to implement the
proposal while Ree’s claim was under study by the monks. He also said the council’s actions should remain
secret until the council was ready to act upon them.
Quillan said that Ree’s position within the Bloodfeathers lineage would play an important role in discussions
over re-establishment of a Damaran kingdom, but Ree’s defeat in the Bloodstone Wars would weigh heavily
against that. Ree had waged war against Bloodstone, Quillan said, not vice versa, and Ree had been defeated.
As a result, Baron Gareth had the right to claim Ree’s land and even Ree’s head, if he chose to do so.
However, Quillan said, the laws of Damaran succession were irrelevant if a Bloodstone kingdom would be
proclaimed. The new Bloodstone kingdom would need to establish its own legal system. It would be a
successor of the old Damaran kingdom, Quillan said, and not a reinstitution of the Bloodfeathers kingdom.
Baron Gareth said that he was less than enthusiastic about the paths their plans were being forced to tread. He
said the council should not lose sight of its goal of establishing a new kingdom that was supported by the people
of Damara and Vaasa. He also said that the unseating of Dimian Ree through victor’s rights would bring any
new kingdom, Bloodstone or Vaasan, off to an ill start.
Quillan agreed, but he said the choices open to one often are less than ideal. In this case, Quillan said, Baron
Gareth would have to choose between establishing the new Bloodstone Kingdom and turning the old Damara
over to a throne ruled by the corrupt and double-dealing Dimian Ree. The rest of the council agreed with the
sage.
The council then moved on to the question of forming the Damaran Alliance. With Polten’s support assured, the
council quickly came to a unanimous decision to do so. Quillan said with the formal formation of the alliance, it
was time to disband the Bloodstone Council and replace it with a new alliance council, one that would include all
of the dukes and barons in the alliance.
The new Damaran Alliance Council was proclaimed with the following membership:
• Council Chairman: Quillan the Sage

• Bloodstone: Baron Gareth and Finance Minister Rulmgar
• Arcata: Duke Tarun and an advisor
• Brandiar: Duke Dormythyrr and his advisor, Friar Dugald of Goliad
• Soravia: Duke Olwen and an advisor.
• Polten: Baron Donlevy and Counselor Dargun
• Spysong: Celedon Kierney and Riordan Parnell
• Twilight Riders: Emelyn the Grey and Myrddin Viligoth
The sage recommended that future council meetings rotate among the provincial seats. Baron Gareth said the
formation of the council should be made known far and wide in Damara through the Twilight Riders. He said it
also should be stressed that not he but Quillan was chairman of the alliance.
This point, he said, would begin opening Damarans to the idea of founding a new kingdom based on new
premises rather than merely continuing with the traditions of the old Damaran kingdom. Quillan, who was
without a drop of royal blood, would be identified as a leader, the baron said.
Celedon Kierney of Spysong and Emelyn the Grey of the Twilight Riders urged the council to send troops
immediately to the border triangle of Soravia, Morovar and Carmathan. They said with Dimian Ree’s newest
attempt to claim the crown, it was uncertain what actions the Central Alliance might take. Only with a strong
troop presence on the borders of the Central Alliance could the Damaran Alliance prevent Ree and his allies
from taking actions that might be difficult to reverse later.
The alliance agreed to place all of its militia units under the high command of Baron Gareth, who was named
commanding general of the alliance army. Each provincial militia would begin displaying a divided insignia that
showed the Damaran scales to the left and the herald of its duchy or barony to the right.
Brandiar and Soravia agreed to muster all available resources to build barracks at the intersection of Duke
Olwen’s new connecting road along the north edge of the Lake Road. The dukes and barons agreed to send a
joint troop to the new Soravian outpost, which was called Southwatch. The following troop contingents would
be supplied: Arcata, 150; Bloodstone, 300; Brandiar, 150; Polten, 100, and Soravia, 100.
Marpenoth
Word of the declaration of the Damaran Alliance spread quickly through the streets of Heliogabalus and across
the eight duchies and baronies. Shandaril in Heliogabalus was pleased to see the action taken, although she
found the appointment of Quillan the Sage as head of the alliance perplexing. However, the council was one
element that the Iron Throne had not yet succeeded in infiltrating, and Duke Olwen of Soravia, whose advisors
included Throne agents, had not revealed the details of the last council session to them. Therefore, the move
came as a surprise to Shandaril.
It was unsettling news for Baron Dimian Ree of Heliogabalus and his cronies, Duke Helmont XV of Carmathan
and Baroness Sylvia of Ostel. It grew more unsettling for them when it became clear that the Damaran alliance
was establishing a military outpost on the border triangle of Soravia, Morovar and Carmathan.
Nonetheless, Ree went into the cold season feeling rather secure. He was confidant that he held the winning
trump card and that the Damaran throne would be his once the monks of the Monastery of the Yellow Rose
came down from the mountains with their findings.
The documentation Ree had sent to the monastery was genuine. He was, in fact, closer related to the
Bloodfeathers kings than old Baron Tranth. Ree had no doubt that the monks would hold him for the rightful
heir to the Damaran throne.
From the early days of the Damaran kingdom until its fall with King Virdin’s death, the Royal High Court in
Heliogabalus had served the crown. The court comprised a High Holy Justice of Tyr, two other holy justices and
two paladins of the blind god. Its duty had been to review the legality of actions taken by the kings, dukes and
barons. The rulings of the court had been accepted as binding and final throughout Damara’s history.
Ree’s advisors had warned him that Bloodstone’s Baron Gareth well might argue that Ree’s claim to the throne
had been lost when the Bloodstone Army defeated his army, but they advised Ree to take the matter to the
High Court. They said because Ree already was rightful heir to the throne at the time of the Bloodstone Wars,
Baron Gareth, who defeated him, must be viewed as an illegal rebel, which would not invalidate Ree’s rightful
claim as blood heir to the crown. They said that the justices and paladins of Tyr were bound by Damaran law,
and under that law, they could reach no other verdict.
The court had heard no cases since Virdin’s fall and the collapse of the kingdom, but it still remained intact in
Heliogabalus, serving as a temple to Tyr, one which had drawn little attention during Zhengyi’s time. Ree’s
advisors said that Baron Gareth, as a paladin of Ilmater, would have no choice but to yield to the high court’s
ruling.
Neither Ree nor his advisors were prepared to make legal arguments with relation to the planned Kingdom of
Bloodstone, because they were unaware of those plans.
Uktar-Nightal
Winter came late to the Bloodstone Lands, with the first frosts below the mountains coming in mid-Uktar. Auril’s
breath was mild in the new winter season, and snow was light, making travel by sled possible at all times.
Because of the mild winter, the Damaran Alliance Council was able to meet in Kinbrace in Uktar and in Goliad in
Nightal. No new strategies were planned, but details of future plans could be finalized, and the dukes and
barons gained a better understanding of one another’s needs and goals.
The Central Alliance conferred as well. Dimian Ree explained his plans for claiming the Damaran throne. He
also explained plans to disrupt trade patterns that were diverting caravans away from the settlements of his
alliance.
1362 DR - Year of the Helm

(Year of the Changing Winds)
Damarans had grown used to things turning out differently than they had expected, but the Year of the Maidens
brought so many changes and surprises - not all of them pleasant - that it has become known as the Year of the
Changing Winds in the Bloodstone Lands.
Hammer - Ches
The winter rest that Damarans enjoy lasted until mid-Ches. The entire winter had been mild. For the first time
since before Zhengyi’s rise, most roads had stayed open to sled traffic throughout the season.
In the Carmathian ducal seat of Ravensburg in the south, Theodraun of Hlammach had spent the winter
pondering his future. He decided it would be bleak if he didn’t change its course soon. Theodraun had spent
much of his life as a successful swindler and imposter in the Impilturian finance capital, until the local authorities
began to take notice of him. With a considerable fortune in his bags, he had fled northward into Damara,
stopping in Trailsend but deciding the influence of Zhengyi the Witch King already was too strong there.
Theodraun had ferried to Praka, where he found the atmosphere even more stifling, and then turned southward
again, following the Great Imphras to Zarach and the White Worm westward to Ravensburg. Zhengyi’s cloud
remained thin in the Carmathan ducal seat, although his puppet, Duke Helmont XIV, ruled there.
To the delight of most Carmathians, Zhengyi eventually was toppled. To the delight of fewer, Duke Helmont
had denounced Zhengyi’s slayer – Sir Gareth Dragonsbane - as an equally power hungry man seeking to wrest
Damara from Zhengyi’s grip, only to grasp it tightly and just as oppressively within his own fist. With time,
Helmont led Carmathan’s host of 1,800 off to the Bloodstone Wars, where it was soundly defeated and Helmont
himself was slain by a magical lightning bolt fired by Emelyn the Grey.
Theodraun was a master at sensing what was in the wind. His senses told him that the victor, Baron Gareth of
Bloodstone, was too occupied with problems in the north to lay claim to Carmathan. Dashard Devlin, who was
Helmont XIV, was the last known member of the ducal Devlin bloodline. It occurred to Theodraun that this did
not necessarily have to be the case.
Using his impressive skills as a thief, Theodraun broke into the royal archive in Ravensburg to gain all of the
information he had needed to create a new duke. Within two days after the news of Carmathan’s defeat and
Helmont’s fall had reached Ravensburg, Theodraun presented himself together with seemingly genuine papers
claiming to be Theodorus Devlin, the heretofore unknown brother of Dashard and therefore the new hereditary
duke of Carmathan. None could contest his claim. He quickly was recognized as duke, and he took the name
Helmont XV.
Theodraun had been both a bard and thief of some skill in his native Hlammach. He used his bard’s skills to
rather quickly win the hearts of his new subjects in Ravensburg. It occurred to Theodraun that it was unlikely
such an opportunity ever again would open to him. He was sure that being Duke of Carmathan was the highest
station he ever would reach.
Although Theodraun loved luxury, his wants and needs were modest compared to those of many noblemen. In
neighboring Morov, Baron Dimian Ree was sated with his thirst for power, corrupt and little aware of or
interested in his own folk. His neighbor to the east, Baroness Sylvia of Ostel, was an evil ruler, oppressive and
hated by many of her own folk. Theodraun thought that both of them were unwise.
Of the four southern provinces that had remained unallied with the North, only the Barony of Polten impressed
Theodraun. Baron Donlevy the Young and his advisor, former Baron Zorth, ruled Polten benevolently but
outside of alliances with other Damaran provinces. Donlevy and Zorth could afford that, Theodraun thought.
They could count on support from Impiltur, if they continued to rule Polten well.
Theodraun believed that the easiest way to assure one’s own base of power was to be loved by the folk. As
Helmont XV, he kept his nose to the wind and his ear to the ground, to constantly sense what the people told
him. As a result, Helmont XV had become one of the most beloved dukes in Carmathan’s modern history. He
ruled his duchy well and in most cases wisely.
And yet in one respect, he had been unwise to the extreme. As Helmont XV, Theodraun was exactly the kind of
duke with whom Baron Gareth of Bloodstone could have forged a strong alliance and strong bonds. Helmont
XV ruled Carmathan very much according to the ideals of the northern paladin.
But Theodraun had come to Carmathan with one fatal flaw in his character, a drawback from his days in
Hlammach. He hated paladins and the law-and-order regimentation of their governments. To him, a Damara
reunited under a King Gareth would have been a return to the Kingdom of Impiltur, which he had come to
despise.
The Earthspur Mountains and the Barony of Ostel shielded Carmathan from Impiltur, but Baron Gareth’s
staunch ally, Duke Tarun of Arcata, whom Theodraun considered to be a puppet of the Bloodstone barony,
guarded Carmathan’s west flank.
Therefore, he chose his side. Wisdom would have dictated an alliance with the Barony of Bloodstone, but
Theodraun chose to throw his lot in with Morov and Ostel instead, forming the Central Alliance, which had
aligned itself against Baron Gareth in the North.
Carmathan had not been in this alliance long, when Theodraun was warned by an Impilturian delegation that its
continued stance against Baron Gareth would lead to its economic isolation and, worse still, the possible
presence of Impilturian soldiers guarding caravans on the roads of Carmathan.
Now, after a few years as a duke, Theodraun rued letting his personal prejudices close his ears to his own
wisdom. He realized that he probably could have spent the rest of his life as Duke of Carmathan in alliance with
the doubtless king-to-be Gareth Dragonsbane. Instead, he had aligned himself with two fools whose doom was
approaching. Theodraun did not care to share that doom.
Agents of Baron Gareth had snooped to find information to discredit him, and they had found the Devlin family
midwife, who insisted that there had been no brother of Dashard Devlin. If Theodraun had followed the dictates
of his wisdom and allied himself with Gareth Dragonsbane, no one would have sought and found such
information.
But he had been foolish. The woman had been found and spirited off to the Monastery of the Yellow Rose,
where the monks were certain to determine that he was a fraud. One fine day in Tarsakh or Mirtul, a group of
monks would descend the mountain and present their evidence. Under old Damaran law as well as Carmathian
law, a gallows with noose was provided at no cost for anyone imposing as a nobleman. Theodraun wanted to
end differently.
Although Theodraun had no idea where Zorth of Polten had gone when the Impilturian delegation had
unmasked him, his thoughts ran in a similar direction. In summer of the previous year already, Theodraun had
begun sending shipments of wealth southward to Bay Town in Impiltur’s swamps. An agent was seeing that the
shipments were properly handled. A small mansion also awaited him there.
As the last tenday of Ches began, Theodraun drank a magical potion he had bought. Within minutes, his
appearance changed beyond recognition. Using his thief’s skills, he went through the window of his chamber
and descended the walls of the ducal mansion in the dead of night. At the edge of town, a group of Impilturian
mercenary rangers were waiting to aid him in his flight.
Well-guarded, Theodraun began the journey over Sudrav and Tomrav into Impilturian Dunfee and then down
the mountain, eventually reaching Bay Town, where he left the pages of Damara’s history. Thus ended the tale
of Duke Helmont XV, although the monks of the Monastery of the Yellow Rose soon would add a footnote to it.
Tarsakh
Theodraun’s disappearance was the first in a series of uncoordinated events that would reshape Damara in a
manner not quite to anyone’s liking. None of the other Damaran powers could react quickly to the
disappearance of Duke Helmont XV, because they were unaware of it.
The ducal chancellor, Talbot Finn, had no idea what had happened to Duke Helmont. He knew merely that the
duke was not to be found. He and other members of the government conferred on the issue and decided to
keep the matter secret for as long as possible. They were convinced that all of the various factions in Damara
would attempt to fill the power vacuum that the duke’s disappearance had created.
Finn announced that the duke had taken ill, and that he, Finn, would administer the government until Helmont
recovered. At the same time, he and his subordinates commissioned Lundlnyr, an expatriate Impilturian mage
who worked privately in the ducal seat, to try to determine what had happened to the duke. Finn suspected foul
play, but he did not know whether the more likely suspects were the members of the Damaran Alliance or
Helmont’s own allies in Morov and Ostel.
Neither of the two allied barons, Dimian Ree in Morovar or Sylvia in Praka, had known of Helmont’s plans, nor
were they aware of his disappearance. But as Tarsakh arrived and boat traffic had begun moving again on
Lake Mogador, they set another plan in motion.
Lake Mogador was an inland body of water. In King Virdin’s days, there had been no need for defensive
vessels on the lake, but there had been a Royal Lake Patrol stationed in Praka, and it had two large armored
lake boats to control smuggling on the lake.
In Zhengyi’s time, Baroness Sylvia of Ostel had claimed the patrol and the two boats as property of her barony
after the fall of the kingdom. Dimian Ree had calculated incorrectly that Heliogabalus would take sides against
the Bloodstone barony if the city were isolated from trade.
Because Impilturian soldiers were escorting caravans to and from Impiltur, the Central Alliance, with its relatively
weak military power, was unable to control the movement of merchandise over the roads of its own lands.
However, Impiltur had no lake boats in Damara. Ostel, with the two patrol boats, could control Lake Mogador.
The east shore of the lake belonged to the Barony of Polten, which had joined the Damaran Alliance but also
had no armed vessels.
Baron Dimian Ree and Baroness Sylvia had decided to punish Polten and create pressure from Heliogabalus
by blockading the ports of Trailsend, Withermeet and Daleport. That included the blockade of all ferry traffic to
and from Heliogabalus.
This mini-naval action went into operation on the same day that Baron Gareth had given Burgomaster Tom
Haystacks of Brotha the green light for his rebellion in northern Ostel. Troops of the Damaran Alliance rode fully
armed through Morov over Wassen and Morovar on the road from Southwatch, declaring it a free highway open
to all Damarans. The alliance host camped on the southwestern edge of Heliogabalus, direct on Ostel’s border,
making clear that it was prepared to invade Ostel, if necessary, to aid Haystacks.
Dimian Ree and Baroness Sylvia had sent messages to Ravensburg, asking Carmathan to send troops to
counter those from the Damaran Alliance, but Chancellor Finn refused. He replied that Carmathan would do its
best to stay out of any conflicts until Duke Helmont had recovered and was able to decide what actions the
duchy wished to take.
Like Theodraun, before his flight, Finn believed that the alliance with Morov and Ostel was a losing proposition
for Carmathan. The chancellor assumed that Gareth Dragonsbane one day would claim the Damaran crown,
and he thought it would be unwise to stand against him at that time. Until then, however, he thought Carmathan
would be served best by neutrality, at least until Duke Helmont returned, should that come to pass.
Finn never learned what happened to the duke. His mage, Lundlnyr, could find no trace of the duke, and others
asked to investigate found no clues in the duke’s chamber. However, one did find that the duke’s personal
possessions were missing, and later, one also found that a part of Carmathan’s treasury had vanished with
Helmont.
The first tenday of Tarsakh had not yet passed when Brotha, Portith and the rest of northern Ostel had come
under the control of Tom Haystacks, the rebel burgomaster of Brotha. While Haystacks was taking control of
northern Ostel, the Twilight Riders were opening an eastern front. Emelyn the Grey and all of his riders had
boarded a trade boat from Trailsend in Polten, preparing to deal with Ostel’s armed patrol boats.
The boat from Polten had not sailed long when the Ostel boats confronted it. Emelyn appeared on deck and
shouted to the captains of both boats to surrender immediately or he would destroy them. The captain of the
nearest boat responded with a volley of arrows that was destroyed by a spell from Myrddin Viligoth. Emelyn
countered with a sizeable fireball that turned the patrol boat into a roaring inferno. Those crewmen who
survived jumped into the water.
The captain of the second boat made a more reasonable assessment of the situation. He surrendered. The
Twilight Riders boarded the boat and took command of it, ordering the captain to sail to Praka. Emelyn had
intended to encounter Baroness Sylvia and give her the ultimatum of remaining within her own borders or facing
war with the Damaran Alliance.
Baroness Sylvia, however, had more direct concerns to deal with at this time than the fall of northern Ostel or
the conquest of her patrol boats. Thus, another element came into Damara’s tale that had nothing to do with
the land itself but rather reached out from the baroness’ own past in Thay.
As northern Ostel was rebelling and her patrol boats were making their last encounter, a strange party of four
arrived in the court of the baronial manor in Praka demanding the surrender of the baroness, to be taken back
to Thay. Witnesses said the party consisted of two magi, a warrior and a probable monk. The leader identified
himself as Sleyvas* of Thay, and said he had a contract from Thay to bring the baroness back to her homeland,
alive, if possible.
* Sleyvas is a creation of Phillip Wallace, Copyright © 2000-2004, Phillip Wallace, all rights reserved. The character Sleyvas is used here with
permission. For more information on this character, please see the Sleyvas Internet web site at http://www.vintyri.com/sleyvas.
Sleyvas was a strange looking character. He set fear into the hearts of the baronial guard. He wore a wide-
brimmed hat and a leather vest. He chewed a brown roll that burned at one end, and his mouth and nose
spewed smoke. His right hand held what the guard assumed to be a strange magical rod or wand.
The burning object was nothing more than a roll of tobacco from the halfling land of Luiren, and Sleyvas was
smoking it. However, folk east of the Dragon Reach, unlike those in the heartlands, had little experience with
people who smoked pipes or other formers of tobacco.
When Sleyvas and his group attempted to enter the baronial manor, some members of the guard raised their
weapons to stop him. He pointed his magical rod or wand at the attackers. Each time, it issued a loud bark and
a small tongue of flame. Each time, its intended victim fell dead, bleeding from a small hole in the head or the
chest. After three such deaths, the guard fled.
Sleyvas and his companions then entered the baronial mansion. Baroness Sylvia was an oppressive ruler.
There were few in Ostel who would have sacrificed their lives to defend her. None of them were among her
staff members. They stepped aside and let the Thayans pass.
Sleyvas finally encountered the baroness in the manor’s great hall, where he repeated his demand that she
yield and return with him to Thay. She countered with an attacking spell. A magical duel between the two
followed in which both were injured and the manor was set aflame.
With both coughing from smoke, Sylvia, desperate, attempted to break her mighty staff of the magi, which
doubtless would have slain both her and Sleyvas, but Sleyvas drew his magic wand or rod faster and caused it
to bark and spout another tongue of flame.
A small, bloody hole appeared between the baroness’ eyes, and she fell dead to the ground. Sleyvas claimed
the still intact staff of the magi, and he and his friends worked a spell of preservation upon the corpse, packed it
onto a wagon and rode southward out of Praka, meeting no opposition as they left the city.
The baronial manor was a flaming inferno by the time the patrol boat carrying Emelyn the Grey docked in Praka.
Sleyvas and his party also had put several kilometers between them and the city gate. Once the mage had
determined what had occurred, he sent several of the Twilight Riders northward, with a message to Tom
Haystacks to hurry southward and claim the barony.
The death of Baroness Sylvia derailed the plans of almost all factions in Damara. Sleyvas was unknown.
Witnesses had heard his statement that he had a contract to bring the baroness back to Thay dead or alive, but
no one was certain what the implications were. The Damaran Alliance, Shandaril in Heliogabalus, Dimian Ree
in Morov and even the Zhentarim in Vaasa all puzzled over the question of whether the Red Wizards had been
stirring their fingers in a heretofore unseen manner in Damara’s soup.
Too late efforts were made to track down Sleyvas and his band along with the corpse of the baroness. Spysong
was able to learn that the Thayan band had traveled over Sudrav and Tomrav to Impilturian Dunfee, but the
traceable trail ended there, disguised perhaps by magic. Some speculated that Sleyvas might have known of a
secret portal in the mountains with which he returned to Thay. The question remains unanswered to this date.
Before Tarsakh ended, it was known throughout Damara, that the baroness of Ostel had been slain by a mage
from Thay and that Brotha Burgomaster Tom Haystacks had claimed the interim rule of Ostel, with apparently
substantial support from the folk and from the host of the Damaran alliance.
Dimian Ree, baron of Morov, received rather dramatic proof of the latter. As soon as he received word of the
slaying, he ordered 200 of his own men to march to Praka, to secure the baronial seat of Ostel. They came to a
dead stop at the border of Ostel outside of Heliogabalus, where the commanders of the larger and better armed
host of the Damaran Alliance told them to turn back. They had no other choice.
Mirtul
As time marched on toward the summer solstice, Damara and to some extent even Vaasa were enjoying an
unusually mild spring. The footprint-betraying snows had vanished from central Damara and there was no
threat they would return until late fall. For Shandaril it was time to start a new and important Iron Throne
operation.
The Throne had certain friendly relations with the church of Mask and the House of the Master’s Shadow temple
in Telflamm. The Throne's leadership also understood that Maskarran devotion to intrigue did not preclude
double dealing with its allies or within its own ranks. However, in Damara the Throne had a free hand in dealing
with thieves, because the church of Mask had gained no substantial footing there yet.
The focal point of thievery in Damara was the Tightpurse thieves’ guild in Heliogabalus, headed by Tarkos Ree,
a cousin of Baron Dimian Ree of Morov. Unlike his cousin, Tarkos Ree could make no claim to royal blood.
Their fathers were brothers, but Dimian Ree gained his Bloodfeathers lineage from his mother’s family. That
notwithstanding, the two had long been close financial and political allies, an alliance that Dimian Ree was
attempting to deny in view of his attempts to claim the Damaran crown.
Tarkos Ree wanted few things more than to see his cousin crowned king and few things less than to see a
paladin of Ilmater like Gareth Dragonsbane on the throne in Heliogabalus. If Baron Gareth were to rule from the
capital, there doubtless would be a war between Tightpurse and the government that Tightpurse could only lose
with time.
Shandaril and the Iron Throne had a different view of matters. Tightpurse was an irritation for the Throne, one
that had no advantages for the Throne. Shandaril preferred a competent ruler who was incompetent to
challenge the Throne, rather than a corrupt ruler with a thieves’ guild at his beck and call. She was determined
to do whatever might be necessary to prevent Dimian Ree from becoming king of Damara.
Tarkos Ree was not completely blind to the presence of the Iron Throne. He knew the Throne had become
active in the free city, but it was a shadow faction to him. Tightpurse had not succeeded in learning who in
Heliogabalus stood behind the Throne, who its members were or what its goals were.
From time to time in the past year, some Tightpurse members had vanished without a trace. Tarkos Ree
assumed that they had come too close to certain Throne operations or operatives and had been eliminated.
The guildmaster of Tightpurse was ready to negotiate with the Throne and come to mutually agreeable terms,
but the Throne had made no attempt to contact Tightpurse, which was beginning to trouble Ree.
Tarkos Ree thought of spring as a time of growth, and he believed the best defense of Tightpurse would be
growth, which would make it more difficult to challenge Tightpurse. Therefore, he sent some of his higher level
operatives out to Trailsend, Praka, Brotha, Portith, Daleport, Withermeet, Zarach and Ravensburg to organize
thieves into Tightpurse branches there.
Shandaril had decided that Mirtul was a good time for the Iron Throne to do spring cleaning. For her, that
meant cleansing Heliogabalus of Tightpurse. Six of her assassins had infiltrated Tightpurse and had gained
substantial information over its inner network. No small amount of that information had been obtained by
capturing certain key Tightpurse members who were tortured until they revealed what the Throne wanted to
know, being reminded that they would be kept alive until the quality of their information could be tested.
Lord Guildmaster and Burgomaster Arguthan of Heliogabalus, one of Shandaril’s key Throne operatives,
steered the spring-cleaning operation. Before the first tenday of Mirtul had ended, two Tightpurse members
were found dead in the streets of the free city, throats slit, with Calishite bicentas placed in their gaping but dead
mouths. As the month’s end approached, the body count had reached six.
Tarkos Ree attempted to set a trap in a tavern for the assassins, but it backfired. The tavern went up in a ball of
fire, apparently from magic, and the few who fled were killed by poisoned darts and found outside the tavern
with Calishite bicentas in their mouths.
After this incident, Shandaril had orders passed on to Arguthan, that the assassinations should be limited to two
or three a month, if possible, to avoid drawing too much attention from the Damaran Alliance or other factions
that could make things more complicated for the Iron Throne.
By mid-Mirtul, the prolonged illness and silence of Duke Helmont XV of Carmathan had drawn the attention of
all of the factions involved in Damaran politics as well as its underground. Members of the Damaran Alliance
began to suspect that Helmont had died and that Chancellor Finn was attempting to keep the death secret.
Dimian Ree was wondering whether there had been a coup in Ravensburg that had silently unseated his ally,
the duke.
Both Tightpurse, in Dimian Ree’s service, and the Iron Throne decided to investigate. A Calishite assassin
working for the Throne and a high-level thief working for Tightpurse encountered one another on the same night
in mid-Mirtul outside the ducal mansion in Ravensburg. The thief was found dead with a slit throat on the banks
of the White Worm River the following day, a Calishite bicenta in his mouth.
The assassin searched the entire ducal mansion without being detected and returned to Heliogabalus, passing
on his report to the burgomaster, who in turned passed it through his own channels, which funneled the news to
Shandaril. She thought the news would be most useful in the hands of Baron Gareth and the Damaran Alliance
and gave orders that it should be leaked to Spysong by several sources.
So it came to be that the month was not yet 20 days old when Parnell Riordan and Celedon Kierney reported to
Baron Gareth and Quillan the Sage that they had learned from several reliable sources that there no longer was
any trace of Duke Helmont in Ravensburg. As far as they could determine, Chancellor Talbot Finn appeared to
have become the de facto ruler of Carmathan.
Finn was a shrewd man. He had heard word of the assassinations in Heliogabalus and the bicentas that were
placed in the victims’ mouths. He guessed that the corpse found with a bicenta in its mouth on the banks of the
White Worm resulted from rival attempts to gain information about Duke Helmont.
His men were unable to find any signs that anyone had broken into the ducal mansion, but Finn assumed that
there had been such a break-in anyway and that at least one Damaran faction probably had become relatively
certain that Duke Helmont no longer ruled Carmathan. He began pondering what course to steer, before
someone else began steering it for him.
Finn saw little further sense in neutrality. The Central Alliance consisted of Dimian Ree of Morov and no one
else, unless he chose to keep Carmathan within it. Regardless of what he did, Baron Gareth of Bloodstone had
won; he would rule the land. Finn could ally with him and have the Impilturian trade blockade against
Carmathan listed immediately, or he could wait until the new King of Damara claimed it. Further resistance to
Bloodstone was pointless.
If he allied with Bloodstone, Finn thought, Baron Gareth probably would offer to appoint Finn as the new duke.
It was a job he didn’t want. Finn was 74 years old, tired and not interested in spending the evening of his life
dodging assassins. The corpse found on the banks of the White Worm, Finn thought, was a pretty good
indication that a secret war already was in progress, with one side supporting Dragonsbane and the other
supporting Ree. As duke, he thought he could become an easy target for assassins of either side.
The next move on Damara’s political chessboard came from Bloodstone Village. Baron Gareth invited all of
Damara’s rulers to a conference on the establishment of a new government, to take place in the unused royal
palace on the last day of the month. Invited were not only the nobles of the Bloodstone Alliance but also Finn.
Baron Dimian Ree of Morov, Steward Tom Haystacks of Ostel and Lord Guildmaster and Burgomaster
Arguthan of the Free City of Heliogabalus, whose rank had been equal to that of a duke in old Damara.
Mirtul’s last moves on the Damaran chessboard occurred during that meeting. Baron Gareth outlined his plans
for the proclamation of a Bloodstone Kingdom with the princedoms of Damara and Vaasa. Dimian Ree was
about to make his counter statement, when a delegation of monks from the Monastery of the Yellow Rose
arrived.
They announced having made two findings:
• Baron Dimian Ree was indeed the next in line as bloodline successor to the throne of Damara, followed
by old Baron Tranth and his daughter, Lady Christine.
• Duke Helmont XV was an imposter. He was in fact an Impilturian swindler and bard from Hlammach
named Theodraun and had newly come to Damara at the time he claimed to be Duke of Carmathan.
Chancellor Finn dotted the i of the monks’ report with his disclosure that Helmont XV had disappeared from the
baronial manor in Ravensburg and that there had been no trace of him since.
Dimian Ree then demanded that the provincial council recognize him as king of Damara, a demand that went
unanswered. The council was not certain what to do next, in view of the report of the monks, but there was no
support for Ree. Having failed in his first attempt, Ree then asked the council to take no action on his demand
or the proposal of Baron Gareth, until the Damaran High Court in Heliogabalus could rule on his legal petition to
be recognized as the rightful king.
Baron Gareth agreed. He said the court should be asked to render a decision by the 20th of Kythorn. On that
date, he said, the provincial council should meet again to take up the matter of forming a new government. Until
that time, he said, Talbot Finn and Tom Haystacks should continue serving as stewards of Carmathan and
Ostel. His suggestion was accepted unanimously.
Dimian Ree was inclined to object to the continued service of Tom Haystacks, but he knew this meeting was not
a productive place to do so and that Haystacks would have been retained even if he had objected. Thus, Ree
remained silent on the matter and voted in agreement.
Kythorn
While the political factions waited for the 20th, when the next provincial council was to take place along with
disclosure of the high court’s ruling, the assassinations of members of Tightpurse continued. Two died in
Heliogabalus, one in Trailsend and one in Zarach. All were found with a bicenta in their mouths.
Spysong brought new reports of conflicts in Vaasa and Soravia between members of the Dragon Cult and
followers of Tiamat. The cultists were entering Vaasa from the Moonsea region. The Tiamatists appeared to be
coming from Rashemen over Narfell into northern Soravia, passing then into the Galenas. Most of the conflicts
seemed to be occurring on the northwestern wall of the East Galenas, between Bloodstone Pass and the High
Walk.
The rangers of Spysong said that the Tiamatists from Unther appeared to be trying to reach the lairing dragons
in the ruins of Castle Perilous, while the Dragon Cultists appeared to be under way to destroy the Tiamatists.
However, because no prisoners had been taken from either faction, these conclusions were largely
hypothetical.
In Sunderland, Spysong had found more bodies at sites of skirmishes between bands of goblins and orcs led by
goat’s head priests and drow elves. As earlier, the drow carried the symbol of the goddess Kiaransalee, but
Spysong continued to be puzzled over the motive for the conflict. Spysong’s rangers had been unsuccessful is
finding the passages the drow were using to reach the surface, but many were convinced that they were
entering Vaasa through the Black Holes, which they thought connected to passages of the Underdark, which in
turn led to the drow lairs.
However, Damara’s attention was focused for the most part on the events that would take place on the last day
of spring, when the provincial council was scheduled to convene again in Heliogabalus and hear the report of
the high court.
When the council met, its members were surprised to see the court represented by a lower level paladin of Tyr
rather than Seamus Brennan, the High Holy Justice of Tyr. The paladin, Sir Brian Finnegan, carried a scroll
tube. He said he had been asked by Brennan to present the justice’s missive to Baron Donlevy the Young,
because Donlevy was the last Damaran noble with a bloodline claim to his title.
In the Damaran ruling hierarchy, this fact gave Donlevy the highest claim to his title, Sir Brian said. Baron
Gareth of Bloodstone could claim his title only through marriage, and Baron Dimian Ree, while a legitimate royal
heir, was not a member of Morov’s now extinct ruling Banacath Family and therefore had no legitimate claim to
the barony.
A murmur rippled through the council at these words, and Dimian Ree was clearly distressed. Young Donlevy
accepted the tube from Sir Brian and noted to the council that Holy High Justice Brennan addressed it
personally rather than to the Damaran High Court. As often is the case with legal documents, Justice Brennan’s
missive, which Baron Donlevy read, was lengthy and complex. These were its mains points:
• With the Fall of King Virdin and Zhengyi’s division of the Damara, the Kingdom of Damara ceased to
exist.
• Because the kingdom no longer existed, its high court also had ceased to exist and could make no
rulings. The former court continued on as a temple and legal study area of the church of Tyr. In this
capacity, Justice Brennan could offer only legal advice.
• If the provincial council attempted to establish a new government, it could do as it pleased.
• If the council attempted to re-establish the old Damaran kingdom with its old laws, then Dimian Ree
clearly needed to be recognized as the rightful King of Damara. Baron Gareth’s defeat of Ree’s forces
could be viewed only as rebellion against the rightful king under the old legal system, which had lost its
validity with the fall of the kingdom.
Justice Brennan urged the council to re-establish a system of legal government for Damara. He said the council
could chose to continue maintaining Damara as a land of independent provinces, establishing a new kingdom
with new laws or re-establishing the old kingdom.
Under international common law, as recognized by the church of Tyr, Baron Gareth of Bloodstone clearly could
ignore the entire council and proclaim a kingdom, Justice Brennan wrote. He said Baron Gareth was the
defender, not the aggressor, and the victor of the Bloodstone Wars. The proclamation of his own kingdom
clearly was his right.
At present, Justice Brennan wrote, only Baron Gareth and Baron Donlevy had a right in law to claim their titles.
Dukes Dormythyrr, Olwen und Tarun as well as Baron Dimian Ree and Lord Guildmaster and Burgomaster
Arguthan of Heliogabalus all had been appointed to their seats or had claimed them without a basis in the laws
of the duchies, the barony and the free city.
Brennan said this constituted an assertive claim to the stand of nobility rather than a legal claim. Before
international common law, in the eyes of Tyr’s church, would recognize these claims as legal rather than
assertive, each of these entities would need to develop its own extensive legal system and wait for a rather
substantial period of time to pass. Other nations and the business hubs of Faerûn usually would consider such
nobilities to be genuine only after the first passing of the noble title through heredity.
The only exception, the justice wrote, was in the case of a new nobility being established through the right of
conquest, which applied to none of the asserted dukes or the asserted baron and burgomaster. Under
international common law, as seen by Tyr’s church, Baron Gareth had the sole right to decide what course
should be taken. If he chose to re-establish the old Damaran kingdom, however, he would have to yield to
Dimian Ree, who under the old law was the rightful heir to the throne.
Justice Brennan urged Baron Gareth to reach a quick decision. If he failed to do so, other governments of evil
intentions would begin to look upon Damara as fair game for conquest, while legitimate governments and
merchants elsewhere in Faerûn would be reluctant to enter into contracts or treaties with Damara because such
agreements would lack a legal base.
After Baron Donlevy finished reading the justice’s opinions, Dimian Ree took the floor and urged the council to
re-establish the old Damaran kingdom. Quillan the Sage, who moderated the meeting, called for a vote. It was
defeated 1 to 7, with one abstention, Chancellor Finn.
Baron Gareth then recommended that the council members return home without acting, discuss the issue with
their folk and return in a month for another meeting to reach a decision. The motion passed 8 to 1, with Dimian
Ree dissenting.
This decision opened the door to a difficult situation both for Baron Gareth and Shandaril. Heliogabalus was not
under the control of the lord guildmaster and burgomaster in the sense that he was a dictator. Rather, he was
the head of the city government, who was elected by the Heliogabalus Guildmasters Council, which, in turn,
ruled the city, somewhat like a modern day city council.
Any guildsman who had achieved master status and any Heliogabalus merchant with a trade volume of at least
25,000 gold talers a year could become a member of the council simply by proving his qualifications and paying
the annual dues of 500 gold talers. Anyone who wanted to control the council needed to have half the members
of the council in his or her pocket, a difficult achievement. In the Year of the Changing Winds, the council
comprised 72 members.
Thirty-two of those members had come into the fold of the Iron Throne, including Lord Guildmaster and
Burgomaster Arguthan, who was a key Throne operative. Most of these, of course, did not consider themselves
to be members of an Iron Throne faction. On the contrary, they thought of the Throne as a distant operation
across the Dragon Reach or they never had heard of it.
The Throne still had kept its operations in Damara secret. This faction, headed by the lord burgomaster, was
known as the Renewers, and it favored establishing a new kingdom rather than re-establishing the old, a new
kingdom they hoped would be more sympathetic with the businessmen of Heliogabalus than the old had been.
Twenty-nine councilmen belonged to the so-called Royalist Faction. These were tradition-rooted native
Damaran merchants and artisans who wanted the Damaran Kingdom to be re-established just as it was before
Zhengyi’s time. They were completely loyal to the old legal system. They argued that Damara had prospered
under the Bloodfeathers kings and their laws and that the kingdom would flourish again, were both to be
reinstated.
There were two smaller groupings in the council as well. Nine councilmen belonged to the so-called Impilturian
faction. These were merchants who had left Impilturian Hlammach, where they found royal law to be too
restrictive, in favor of the freer trade system of Heliogabalus. The Impilturian faction always voted as a bloc and
almost always voted with the Renewers, giving Lord Guildmaster and Burgomaster Arguthan a reliable council
majority.
The two remaining councilmen were considered to be independents, not voting regularly with any other
particular faction.
When Lord Arguthan returned from the provincial council, both he and Shandaril learned a bitter lesson. Both
had taken the Impilturian faction of the Heliogabalus council for granted. The Throne had not made the effort to
understand the motivations of the Impilturians nor the depths of their feelings.
The Impilturian faction was appalled at the idea of Gareth Dragonsbane ascending to the Throne. They were
no friends of Dimian Ree in Morovar, but he was at least a shady character after their own fashion, where Baron
Gareth was an Ilmatari paladin. All of them had fled the rule of Ilmatari paladins in their homeland. The idea of
crowning an Ilmatari paladin in Damara was anathema to them.
To the surprise of both Lord Arguthan and Shandaril, all nine Impilturians and one of the independents voted
with the 29 members of the Renewers bloc to support the re-establishment of the old Damaran kingdom with
Baron Dimian Ree as the recognized monarch, giving the Renewers a 39-33 majority. Politically, there was
nothing more Arguthan or Shandaril could do for the time being. Heliogabalus had rejected Baron Gareth and
his plan for a Bloodstone Kingdom.
Matters took the opposite turn in Carmathan. The duchy was a land without men capable of providing good
leadership; its best native sons had died in Zhengyi’s night of assassinations and in the Bloodstone Wars. Both
had thrown Carmathan into economic ruin, chaos and poverty. The Impilturian boycott had made the duchy’s
continued decline into a certainty.
Outside of the aging and tired Chancellor Finn, there was no one in Carmathan capable of leading the land back
onto the upward path. The advisors to vanished Duke Helmont XV were either aged or corrupt, sometimes
both. Although Carmathan and Chancellor Finn had little love for the Bloodstone barony, he saw no other hope
for the duchy. Dimian Ree, he believed, would lead the duchy only into further decline.
He discussed his intentions to support Baron Gareth’s proclamation of a new Bloodstone Kingdom. Most of his
subordinates agreed with Finn, albeit reluctantly.
Flamerule
While the political debates continued in the Damaran provinces, other matters also followed their course. At the
beginning of the month, the Barony of Bloodstone and the Orothiar dwarves celebrated completion of the new
Vaasan Wall. In mid-month, the dwarven-led crews then headed southward to begin construction of the
Damaran Wall, which was being financed in part by Impiltur, as a tool to help curb smuggling from the Moonsea
region.
Four more members of Tightpurse forfeited their lives in this month, three of them in Heliogabalus and one in
Morovar. All were found with slit throats and bicentas in their mouths. Attempts to identify the killers continued
to be unsuccessful. Shandaril and Titus Traud looked at the results of their Calishite assassins and were
satisfied.
In the first tenday, Spysong rangers reported of a battle on the Vaasan Plain between Untherites and Moonsea
dragon cultists about 10 miles/16 km southeast of the ruins of Castle Perilous. In the course of the clash, the
Untherites had managed to summon a juvenile blue dragon from the ruins to aid them in battle. The Moonsea
cultists defeated the dragon in battle, but, strangely, the carcass of the fallen wyrm degenerated and rotted
quickly.
The rangers said all members of both clashing factions had fallen in the battle. They brought samples of the
rotting dragon flesh and its bones back to Bloodstone Village. Baron Gareth sent the samples on to Friar
Dugald in Goliad, who reported back that the dragon appeared to have been dead for about three years. The
priest questioned whether the dragon might have been undead.
The news spurred a new round of speculation in Bloodstone Village, but it led to no conclusions. The Spysong
rangers were certain that the dragon had looked fully alive and was not a dracolich. No one who took part in the
discussion knew of any other type of undead dragon.
The rangers also reported that a new type of creature had begun to appear at the ruins of Castle Perilous. They
estimated that perhaps 50 of the beings appeared to by standing watch around the dragon-infested ruins. The
creatures, they said, stood six to 10 feet/2 to 3 m tall and look like a cross between a lizardman and a dragon.
The main event in Flamerule, however, was the meeting of the provincial council in Heliogabalus on the 20th.
Two motions were on the table, Dimian Ree’s proposal that the old Damaran kingdom be re-established with
Ree as rightful king, and Gareth Dragonsbane’s proposal that the new Bloodstone kingdom be proclaimed with
Dragonsbane as king. This proposal called for the establishment of the princedoms of Damara and Vaasa and
the new Vaasan Duchy of Ironspur and the baronies of Sunderland and Palishchuk.
Quillan the Sage, proposed prince of Damara, attended the meeting as an observer, along with representatives
of Darren Thunderclap, proposed prince of Vaasa; Garumbelly Hillsafar; proposed baron of Sunderland,
Wingham, proposed baron of Palishchuk, and Murnaros, proposed Duke of Ironspur.
After long and heated discussions, the council voted 7 to 2 to implement Baron Gareth’s recommendations and
to proclaim the Kingdom of Bloodstone, as he had proposed. The dissenters were Baron Ree of Morov and
Lord Arguthan, who reluctantly voted as his council had decided.
Baron Gareth said he would continue to recognize Dimian Ree as the rightful baron of Morov, but Ree said he
could recognize no legal basis upon which any members of the council except for himself, Dragonsbane and
Baron Donlevy of Polten would have any voice in such matters. Therefore, he said, he considered the council’s
decision to be without legal foundation, and Morov would not recognize the new kingdom nor voluntarily submit
itself to it.
Ree said Morov would become a part of the kingdom only under force. He said that Baron Gareth would have
to attack and conquer Morov to bring it into the Bloodstone Kingdom. The outside world, Ree contended, would
recognize that as aggression.
Dragonsbane said he intended neither to attack Morov nor to exclude it from the Bloodstone Kingdom. He said
the new kingdom would have many decisions to make, and most of them would affect Morov as well as the
other provinces. If Baron Ree refused to take part in future provincial councils, Dragonsbane said, he would
deprive Morov of its voice. He said Morov could not hold out alone forever, and it would be wiser for Ree to
accept the council’s decision and gain its benefits for Morov.
Baron Gareth told the council members they should prepare discussion of all issues that needed to be resolved
for the next council meeting in Heliogabalus on the 20th of Eleasias. At this meeting, he said, resolutions would
be sought for open issues, followed by the proclamation and establishment of the new Kingdom of Bloodstone.
The majority of the Heliogabalus Guildmasters Council reacted angrily to the decision. They argued that the
baron of Bloodstone was subjecting the free city to his rule against their will and with no basis in common law.
Heliogabalus had not made war upon Bloodstone, nor had it been conquered. In addition, they said, the
Dragonsbane plan relegated the traditional capital of the Kingdom of Damara to the role of a regional capital.
Lord Arguthan and other members of the Renewers faction argued that Heliogabalus could not afford to refuse
being a part of the new kingdom. They said the Impilturian boycott had brought the free city to its financial
knees, and it would continue if Heliogabalus refused to acknowledge the new king.
They also pointed out that Soravia had finished completion of the road along the north edge of the Lakewood.
There no longer was any need for trade to pass through Heliogabalus, if it remained stubborn, they said.
Instead, Trailsend would take its place as the financial center of the Bloodstone Lands.
The Royalists countered that the new kingdom could not become economically stable without Heliogabalus.
Trade detours were well and good, they said, but successful trade required the knowledgeable guidance of
experienced merchants and guildmasters. Baron Gareth and his followers were totally incompetent to conduct
trade successfully, they contended.
Instead, the Royalists said, Heliogabalus should align itself with Morov and sit the matter out. Before the year’s
end, they contended, the new kingdom would realize it was incompetent without the guildmasters. Then it
would be ready to deal with the free city and negotiate more reasonable terms, they argued.
After the debate, Lord Arguthan moved that the Free City accept and participate in the new Bloodstone
Kingdom. The motion was defeated 32-38, with the two independents abstaining. Raimund Kelibann, leader of
the Royalist faction, then moved that Heliogabalus reject the new kingdom and ally itself with the rightful
Damaran king, Dimian Ree in Morov. That motion won, 38-32, with the same two abstentions. Reluctantly but
with no other choice, Lord Arguthan sent messengers to Bloodstone Village and Morovar, to report the council’s
decision.
Baron Gareth responded that the new Bloodstone Kingdom would not recognize the council’s decision as valid.
He said he would continue to view the free city as being a part of the new kingdom and the capital of the new
princedom, but he also said the new kingdom would not attempt to force its will violently unless it was
unavoidable. He sent additional messengers out to the other provincial capitals, informing the baron, dukes and
stewards of Heliogabalus’ decision and moving the next provincial council meeting to the ducal mansion in
Soravian Kinbrace.
In Morov, Dimian Ree was bolstered by the decision in Heliogabalus. He reacted by posting a proclamation
throughout Morov and Heliogabalus, denouncing the provincial council as an illegal body and its intended
proclamation of the Bloodstone kingdom as a criminal act. Instead, he proclaimed the re-establishment of the
Kingdom or Damara and himself as rightful king. He denounced the other seven provinces as rebels and
placed a reward of 10,000 gold talers upon the head of Baron Gareth, 5,000 gold talers on the heads of the new
princes and 2,000 gold talers on the heads of the four barons, three dukes and two stewards.
Shandaril and Traud began pondering how best to upset the guildmasters’ decision. Heliogabalus had been
well organized as a precision tool of the Iron Throne. Shandaril did not care to redo that work in Trailsend or
some other financial center that might arise. She also considered the assassination of the Royalists and the
members of the Impilturian faction as a poor means for solving her problems. She found no immediate solution
that pleased her and therefore decided to wait briefly, to see what time might bring.
Impilturian envoys in Trailsend made clear that their kingdom would continue to boycott Morov and begin to
boycott Heliogabalus, bringing all outside trade between them and Impiltur to a stop. Ostel, Soravia and Polten
refused to allow residents of Heliogabalus and Morov to pass through their lands.
Eleasias
Spysong rangers spotted a large band of orcs and goblins led by two goat’s head priests emerging from one of
Sunderland’s Black Holes and then laying in wait to ambush the next caravan heading from Darmshall to
Bloodstone Pass. The rangers slipped through the foothills to Darmshall to issue a warning.
The Lord Burgomaster of Darmshall, Darren Thunderclap, sent one unit of marksman archers back into the
foothills with the rangers and a larger contingent of armed and armored men hidden in caravan wagons down
the road. When the caravan reached the point marked for ambush, the archers rained arrows down upon the
attackers, while the soldiers in the caravan tipped their wagons and began firing arrows up into the ambushers.
One of the rangers saw that the archers above the ambush were being aided by four drow bowmen of very high
competence, who were firing down onto the goat’s head priests from the shade of the Black Hole’s opening.
The rangers slipped down in an attempt to capture the drow, but they were detected. All four rangers and one
drow, bearing the symbol of Kiaransalee, died in the fight. The three other drow escaped into the Dark Hole.
Darmshall’s archers chose not to follow the drow through the Black Hole into the Underdark without further
orders.
Most of the ambushers were slain, but two orcs were captured by the Darmshall troops. The orcs said under
questioning that the ambushers had been seeking food more than valuables and that they were near starvation.
The orcs claimed that drow had been coming into the Black Holes from the Underdark. They said their band
had succeeded in blocking most of their hole’s passages into the Underdark, but the group of drow that had
attacked the ambush apparently had found a passage that still was open. The orcs did not know why the drow
were hunting the goat’s head priests.
Other Spysong rangers reported a lull in battles in Vaasa between dragon cultists and Untherites. They
speculated that there might be no survivors of either group. However, they said that nocturnal dragon flights
over the Galenas had grown more frequent.
In Darmshall, the Barony of Bloodstone and the duchies of Arcata, Brandiar and Soravia, vampire attacks
continued at the pace of the previous months. There still had been no reports of victims dying or becoming
vampire spawn.
Quillan the Sage met at the beginning of the month with Baron Gareth and said that another matter deserving of
attention was the White Retreat, the monastery to Auril in Soravia’s Enchanted Hills. Quillan said he had
accumulated conclusive evidence that the monastery had worked with Zhengyi the Witch King to call down not
only the Wolf Winter late in the Year of the Spur (1348 DR) and early in the Year of the Bridle (1349 DR) but
also other harsh winters before the fall of Zhengyi, Orcus and the grandfathers of assassins.
It would not be wise to merely attack the monastery, Quillan said, in part because it was heavily fortified and
cost many lives, but also because it would be unwise to make enemies of the church of Auril or to bring down
upon Damara and Vaasa the wrath of the Frost Maiden herself. However, Quillan said, after more pressing
matters were settled, it would be wise to diplomatically advise the White Retreat that the Bloodstone Kingdom
expected future experiments with harsh winters to be conducted upon Pelvuria, the Great Glacier, to the north.
Quillan said that Soravia had the tools it needed to curb overzealousness on the part of the Icepriests and
priestesses. The clerics had no means to feed themselves, he said, and were dependent upon outside
supplies. If the monastery became cantankerous, Quillan said, Soravia needed only block all passable wagon
routes into the Enchanted Hills.
For religious reasons, Quillan said, the White Retreat hardly could become independent of local suppliers. He
said the priests theoretically could use spells to create a warm, agricultural area within the Enchanted Hills, but
to do so would be an insult to their goddess, who doubtless would deny them the magic they needed to perform
such sacrilege.
The focal point of the month, however, was the provincial council that opened on the 20th in Duke Olwen’s
manor in Soravian Kinbrace. All of the barons, dukes and stewards of Damara and Vaasa except for Dimian
Ree of Morov and Lord Arguthan of Heliogabalus attended it.
In the end, the council approved the proclamation of the Bloodstone Kingdom and proclaimed Baron Gareth as
its first king. He in turn proclaimed Bloodstone Village as the kingdom’s capital and the ruling dukes and
barons, including Dimian Ree in Morov and Lord Guildmaster and Burgomaster Arguthan in Heliogabalus, as
new dukes and barons of Damara and Vaasa. Arguthan retained his former title, which was recognized as
being equivalent to dukedom in the new kingdom.
There was considerable debate over the new king’s decision to retain the two rebels, but he said the refusal of
Morov and Heliogabalus to recognize the Bloodstone Kingdom was temporary and that neither, with time, would
be able to continue holding out. King Gareth said that Arguthan had sided with Bloodstone in his council but
had lost the council vote. He believed with time that the council would change its decision and accept its
membership in the new kingdom.
Dimian Ree was a more complicated matter, the new king said, but the new Bloodstone Kingdom would not do
well to raise a violent hand against the rightful heir to the throne of the fallen Damaran kingdom except in self
defense. It was wiser, he said, to recognize Dimian Ree as being the Baron of Morov and in doing so, to make
clear to the people of Morov that their baron was their problem.
After these confirmations of title, King Gareth proclaimed Quillan the Sage as Prince of Damara and Lord
Darren Thunderclap of Darmshall as Prince of Vaasa. He asked Quillan to take make his temporary seat in
Daleport in Polten instead of Heliogabalus. King Gareth proclaimed Darmshall as the capital of the Vaasan
princedom and Heliogabalus as the capital of the Damaran princedom, with the royal palace there designated
as Quillan’s seat, albeit temporarily unoccupied.
King Gareth then proclaimed Tom Haystacks as Baron of Ostel, the dwarf Garumbelly Hillsafar as Baron of
Sunderland, the half-orc Wingham as Baron of Palischuk and the dwarf Murnaros as Baron of Ironspur. He also
had offered to appoint Chancellor Finn as duke of Carmathan, but Finn declined.
He told the king and the other noblemen that he was too old and tired to don the duke’s robes, and that the wars
had robbed destitute Carmathan of others up to the task. In addition, Finn said, he was troubled by the price
that Dimian Ree had placed upon his head. He did not care to be the target of assassins.
The chancellor said that the people of Carmathan were not enthusiastic allies of the Bloodstone king. The
proud duchy had been defeated in the Bloodstone wars and the false Duke Helmont XV and won popularity
among the folk while spreading considerable propaganda against the Damaran Alliance and its commanding
Barony of Bloodstone.
He said most Carmathians were in favor of restoring the Damaran Kingdom, but they were caught in a dilemma.
Carmathians were aware of Dimian Ree’s connections to the Witch King, and they considered him to be a
traitor, therefore, he was unacceptable to them as king. However, there was no support for Gareth
Dragonsbane either.
Any new government, Finn said, would have to win gradual public support by governing well and helping the
duchy out of its desolate financial condition. Until then, he predicted, the folk would remain suspicious, cautious
and neutral in terms of any government that existed outside of its own boundaries.
Finn urged King Gareth to find a strong and capable new duke from among his own associates, one who could
motivate Carmathan again and win its people’s hearts in time. The king pondered the chancellor’s advice and
then appointed his own close friend and companion, Riordan Parnell, as duke. King Gareth thought that he
knew no one more qualified to take on the task that Finn had described than the epic bard.
After the new princes, dukes and barons had returned to their seats of power, King Gareth retired to Bloodstone
Village, where he asked Emelyn the Grey to dispatch magical messages to ambassadors in other lands,
informing them of the proclamation of the new kingdom and their continued service as ambassadors, but now of
the greater Bloodstone Kingdom. The message also was delivered in Zhentil Keep, Melvaunt and Mulmaster
on the Moonsea, giving both governments notice that King Gareth had claimed Vaasa and that their future
activities in those lands would come under his rule.
How the three reacted was not immediately clear. Lord Orgauth of Zhentil Keep, Lord Nanther of Melvaunt and
High Blade Selfaril of Mulmaster all merely sent messages of congratulation to the new king. One assumed that
each intended to wait and watch, to see how Gareth Dragonsbane would lead the new kingdom he had claimed
and whether he was able to defend his claim of Vaasa.
The secretive Iron Throne sent no message, of course. In Heliogabalus, Shandaril was for the most part
satisfied. Gareth Dragonsbane had become king, and she remained convinced that his weaknesses would
serve her purposes well. The holdouts Morov and Heliogabalus were serious problems in her eyes, but they
needed to be dealt with subtly and without haste. The coming autumn and winter would give her time to do
what needed to be done.
Eleint
As the cold winds of autumn sent the chills of their first warning breezes across the Cold Lands, Spysong
reported a decline in activity by the goat’s head priests and their goblinkind in the Black Holes of Sunderland.
Indications were, the Spysong rangers said, that the former clerics of Orcus may have taken the offensive
against their black elf foes and were battling drow in the Underdark.
Instances of vampire bites appeared to have leveled off. There was no increase noted in the number of cases.
In previous months, attacks had been reported in Virdin, Windless, the Bloodstone Mines, Darmshall and
Highsong.
The Spysong rangers also reported that the people of Highsong were aware of the proclamation of the new
Bloodstone Kingdom. They discussed it cautiously but without apparent hostility, the rangers reported. The last
caravans of the year appeared to have already entered Damara and passed through Bloodstone Pass, the
rangers said, making it impossible to observe the reactions of the Zhentarim or rival caravans from Melvaunt
and Mulmaster.
They also reported that the half-orcs of Palishchuk had established themselves firmly in their Vaasan
stronghold. In the summer months, they had finished scouring the High Walk, making it relatively safe for travel
by well-armed bands or small mountains caravans. The half-orcs had cemented their relationships with the
Ironspur dwarves, and there was a steady flow of trade between Palishchuk and the dwarven halls.
During the monthly meeting of what now was known as the Bloodstone Council, the princes, dukes and barons
reported on the progress being made in their lands. King Gareth said he intended to increase the pressure
upon Morovar and Heliogabalus, but he would wait until the month’s end to do so. At that time, he said, he
would send 800 men from the new kingdom’s army to surround and besiege the barony and the free city.
The siege army would have orders to allow food and necessities to be brought into the besieged area, and it
would let private persons travel into and out of it. But no wares would be allowed to leave it, nor would any
known members of Dimian Ree’s government or army or the guildmasters of Heliogabalus be allowed to cross
the siege line.
The king said he intended the first stage of the siege to be more symbolic than punitive. By mid-Marpenoth,
winter usually would have ended travel until spring anyway, he said. Therefore, the true toll of the siege would
be small. However, the knowledge that they were sealed in by an army for six months would take a
psychological toll from the people of Morov and Heliogabalus, King Gareth said.
Duke Olwen of Soravia reported that a new settlement called Stormstar had been established in his duchy.
Men of the West had established the settlement on the northwestern edge of the Stormhaven Hills, Olwen said,
and they did not attempt to hide from his men that they represented the Shadowdale faction of the Harpers.
Prince Quillan warned Olwen to be careful of the Harpers, reminding him that the organization is opposed to
large central governments, the like of which King Gareth had proclaimed for Damara and Vaasa. Olwen said
the Harpers of Stormstar had been helpful to Soravia to date. Furthermore, he said, the Stormstar Harpers had
praised King Gareth’s retention of the regional ducal and baronial governments and the degree of self-rule they
had retained.
Marpenoth-Nightal
With the coming of Marpenoth, King Gareth and a part of his fellowship spent the cold half of the year before the
hearth of the baronial manor in Bloodstone Village, studying problems and pondering their solutions. There was
much more on their agenda than the questions of rebellious Morov and Heliogabalus.
The new Baron of Bloodstone, Hobart Bracegirdle, had established his own diggings in the Waukeshire of
Bloodstone Pass as the center of the barony’s government, thus, Gareth Dragonsbane was able to continue
using old Baron Tranth’s manor in Bloodstone Village as his castle. It was there that many of his closest allies
and friends gathered for the cold season.
The manor was much more modest than the accommodations of some of the kingdom’s dukes and barons, but
the needs of the paladin king and his druidess lady were modest, and the former baronial manor served them
well.
Friar Dugald had returned to Bloodstone for the winter from Goliad, where construction of his Cathedral of St.
Dionysus had stopped for the winter. Celedon Kierney, now the sole leader of Spysong, also was there, along
with Emelyn the Grey and Myrddin Viligoth of the Twilight Riders. Another of the fellowship members, the
Impilturian Rulmgar, also was on hand. He had advanced from finance minister of Bloodstone to finance
minister of the Bloodstone Kingdom.
Missing from the old fellowship were Duke Olwen of Soravia and Duke Riordan Parnell of Carmathan, who had
done a masterful job of beginning to bring the troubled duchy back together. The monk Kane, who had fallen in
the battle of the 2nd Citadel of Assassins, was, of course, also missing, as was the fellowship’s advisor, Prince
Quillan of Damara.
Celedon Kierney came to the Bloodstone Council with news. The bloodletting among the thieves of southern
and central Damara appeared to be ending, he said. After two assassinations in Morovar in Eleasias, the trail of
death had moved northeastward into Soravia. At the end of Kythorn four more persons were found dead in
Steppenhall, Kinbrace, Kinnery and Merkurn, all with uncirculated bicentas in their mouths, he said.
Spysong, he said, at last had gained some insight into the assassins' organization. A high level Tightpurse thief
in Kinbrace had sought help in late Eleasias. The thief was taken to Kierney, who agreed to aid him, if the thief
would act as a decoy.
Returning to Kinbrace with invisible and hidden protectors from Spysong, the waiting began. Two wiry men with
sharp knives were caught trying to kill the thief. One died in the battle, another committed suicide, but a Holy
Justice of Tyr, using the spell Speak With Dead, forced one of the dead assassins to give information.
The two, he said, were among 12 assassins from Calimshan who had come north under a long-term contract.
Their assignment was to eliminate Tightpurse. The dead assassin knew nothing of the true power behind the
contract.
When Spysong entered a hideout in Heliogabalus described by the thief, a tremendous delayed fireball
exploded at the entrance, killing two fighters who had accompanied a Spysong mage to the site and nearly
killing the mage as well. The wooden building burned to its foundation.
Kierney said Spysong was only on the threshold of infiltrating Tightpurse, and his organization still had much to
learn about Tarkos Ree’s guild. However, from the information already gleaned, it appeared that the assassins
attacking members of Tightpurse had the middle level of the guild as its target, and they had indeed succeeded
in liquidating this level for the most part.
The second phase of the assassins’ operation seemed to be to foil Tarkos Ree’s plan to spread Tightpurse out
into all parts of Damara. The expansion was conducted by sending middle level Tightpurse members out into
the various settlements to organize the local thieves. As far as Spysong could tell, the assassins had killed all
such agents.
Kierney said that Spysong had gained no information on the power behind the assassinations, but he was
strongly inclined to look toward a secretive Sembian organization known as the Iron Throne, which heretofore
had played no noticeable role in Damara. Kierney said he was inclined to suspect the Throne because of the
substantial number of Sembian merchants who had migrated to Heliogabalus and bought into businesses there
after Zhengyi’s fall.
From what he had been able to learn from Impilturian authorities, Kierney said, this was a perfect match for the
pattern the Throne had used to infiltrate and control trade in other parts of Faerûn. He predicted that the
Throne, if in fact present in Heliogabalus, would operate parallel to the Bloodstone government, seeking the
same goals at times and working against the king’s goals at others.
The Throne would be certain to seek an end to the siege of Heliogabalus, Kierney said, because the current
situation had made Throne investments there worthless. He warned King Gareth that if he remained inactive in
the Heliogabalus matter for too long, the Throne might take the matter into its own hands and eliminate the
opposition to the Bloodstone Kingdom through assassinations and other illegal methods.
In late Marpenoth, Impilturian messengers of the crown brought more unpleasant news. The queen's diviners in
Lyrabar had learned that some of the devils once summoned by Narfell and demons summoned by the
Raumathari had been stranded for more than 1,500 years between Faerûn on the material plane and Baator or
the Abyss on their own levels, being unable to return to either.
They also determined that there are locations where the protections barring the demons and devils from
entering Faerûn had grown thin. Their research made the following specific findings:
• The Abyssal Prince Graz'zt and a company of demons were trapped in a fragment of the Abyss that had
become lodged beneath the ruins of Castle Perilous in Vaasa.
• A band of Raumathari-summoned demons was trapped between the planes below the southern edge of
the Great Glacier in northern Vaasa, halfway between the White Worm barbarian settlement and the Lake
of Ice.
• Only the thinnest of protections was keeping a large contingent of Narfelli-summoned devils out of the
unsettled lands of eastern Damara. All assumed that this was the location reported earlier by the
wandering monk Afrafa.
• Another contingent of Narfelli-summoned devils that had been sent into Raumathar was trapped beneath
the North Country of Rashemen about 60 miles/100 km northeast of Immilmar. The Rashemi witches
were aware of this and were using their magic to maintain the bar that prevented the devils from entering
the material plane.
NOTE: Game masters who intend to run the optional 8th part of Northern Journey, In the Land of
the Lich Lords, should understand the presence of Graz'zt and his band of
demons beneath the ruins of Castle Perilous. Graz'zt and his followers were
jolted out of the Abyss in the Year of the Serpent (1359 DR) when the Realm of
Orcus fell. They landed on the border of the material plane beneath Zhengyi's
ruins. The causes were a magical fluke of the Time of Troubles and Graz'zt's
overambitiousness. The destruction of the Realm of Orcus at the hands of Sir
Gareth and his companions triggered the events that stranded Graz'zt and his
Abyssal layer Azzagrat in no demon's land. All four of the demon options listed
above are being made available here for game masters who wish to insert some
of the Demon Lands flavor originally developed by Eric L. Boyd, Steven Schend and George
Krashos but not used extensively by WotC.
Gareth said he believed his kingdom must devote itself to certain tasks in the near future:
• The rebellion in Heliogabalus. The king said it was politically necessary and his intention to secure the
capital of the old kingdom and of the new Princedom of Damara before the beginning of summer. As
long as Heliogabalus remained outside of the kingdom’s fold, both foreign governments and businessmen
would view the situation in the Bloodstone Kingdom as remaining unstable.
• The rebellion in Morov. King Gareth said the problem with Dimian Ree was less urgent but also needed
to be resolved with time. As long as a second king remained on his throne, the stability of the Bloodstone
Kingdom could be threatened.
• Stabilizing the economy throughout Damara.
• Gaining the confidence of the population.
• Building a presence in Vaasa, to asset the Bloodstone Kingdom’s claim to the new princedom.
The king said he and the other members of his fellowship would spend the winter deciding how to deal best with
Heliogabalus and Morov. He asked Rulmgar to make recommendations on means to stimulate the bloodstone
market with the goal of bringing sales and prices back to their pre-Zhengyi levels.
Celedon Kierney, Emelyn the Grey and Rulmgar all recommended to King Gareth that an organization similar to
the Impilturian Heralds of Imphras II should be established to win greater confidence from the people and to
assert the new kingdom’s claim to Vaasa.
They recommended that Spysong and the Twilight Riders be merged and expanded, to serve as the
cornerstone of the new organization. Its purposes, they said, should be:
• To bring news to the folk in all corners of Damara and Vaasa.
• To bring back to the king and his nobles news of the folk.
• To follow the traditions of Spysong and attempt to learn what was happening in all parts of both lands and
who and what were behind local events.
• To serve as a combination of militia and police, to assure that all folk of the Bloodstone Kingdom could
live in safety and with law and order.
Emelyn the Grey said he strongly supported the establishment of such an organization, but he did not want to
be a part of it. Now that peace had come to Damara, he wished to return to his own goal, joining the queen,
Lady Christine, in continuing with the reforestation of the Warrenwood in Bloodstone Pass that was destroyed
during Zhengyi’s time. It was his intention to return there in spring.
Celedon Kierney and Rulmgar also were mentioned as possible leaders of the new organization, but King
Gareth said he wished to keep both free for other work. He said he thought the best candidate to lead the new
band would by Myrddin Viligoth, co-founder of the Twilight Riders. Viligoth suggested that the new band be
called the Bloodstone Riders.
The king said beginning in Tarsakh, he hoped to recruit adventurers in Impiltur and the Vast to come to
Bloodstone Kingdom, to protect and defend it during its infancy. However, he said it would be necessary to test
the character of such adventurers before allowing them to serve the crown in important positions.
Friar Dugald said his St. Dionysus Cathedral would open in Goliad in Mirtul. After that time, he would be forced
to devote himself more to the work of the church than to politics and war, but the cathedral would be able to test
the character of new recruits.
King Gareth said that the priest’s suggestion would be quite practical. In Tarsakh, he hoped to begin
constructing a huge, central training headquarters and base for the kingdom’s army. He intended to call it Fort
Kane, in honor of the fallen comrade of the fellowship. The site would be about 10 miles/15 km west of Goliad.
The king said he chose that location because it was near the geographical center of the Bloodstone Kingdom
and because it was in Brandiar, the Damaran province that had been most ravaged by Zhengyi’s hordes and
that was most destitute, exceeding even the poverty of Carmathan. The presence of a large military host in Fort
Kane would invigorate Brandiar’s economy and help draw refugees from the duchy back to their homeland, he
said.
King Gareth envisioned Fort Kane as the prime training center for the regular Bloodstone Army as well as a
training facility for the ducal and baronial militias and the new Bloodstone Riders. He said that Friar Dugald
could send Ilmatari priests to Fort Kane for the swearing-in of new recruits. At this time, the king said, the
priests could test the character of those chosen for important positions.
1363 DR - Year of the Wyvern

(Year of the Tide Turned)
In the Year of the Wyvern, many of the open issues in Damara and Vaasa were resolved. For the first time
since the death of King Virdin, the people of the Bloodstone Lands thought a clear path stood before them
again. Prosperity and strength began to return to the Damaran provinces. For most, the only troubling threats
that remained were tales of the gathering of dragons in the ruins of Castle Perilous, of a strange fortress castle
atop Suncatcher Mountain, to which these dragons flew and the vampire bites in the North.
However, the threats of dragons were distant from the areas where the folk lived and worked. The wyrms had
been there for four years without seriously troubling Damara or the rest of Vaasa. In most other respects, the
people thought that their own regional Time of Troubles had ended. Thus, the Year of the Wyvern usually is
known instead as the Year of the Tide Turned in Damara, Vaasa and parts of Impiltur and the Great Dale.
This also was a triumphant year for King Gareth Dragonsbane, as many of his dreams began to turn to reality.
But it was his peak. In the years that followed, the king came to understand ever more how many elements of
his kingdom flowed their own downward course, like a river seeking the sea, rather than soaring to the moral
heights he had envisioned. In the years that followed, Gareth Dragonsbane evolved into the sober, somewhat
depressed monarch the Bloodstone Lands know today.
Hammer - Ches
The new year brought an upswing to Damara, but it began on a dour note. In the first tenday of Hammer, old
Baron Tranth of Bloodstone Village died in his sleep. With his passing, King Gareth lost not only a father-in-law
but also one of his most trusted and valued advisors.
Before Hammer had ended, the king received word of another life ended. Lord Arguthan of Heliogabalus also
had died, apparently of natural causes, throwing the city of money into a state of chaos. Heated debates broke
out between the Royalists on one side and the Renewers on the other, with the Impilturian faction divided.
In the Guildmasters Council meeting in Alturiak, Raimund Kelibann, leader of the Royalists, was elected as new
Lord Burgomaster and Guildmaster by a slim 36-35 margin, with his own 32 Royalists and seven Impilturians
supporting him and the 29 Renewers, the two independents and two of the Impilturians opposing him.
Both King Gareth and Shandaril began making plans to react to this turn of events. The king said he intended
to send 200 warriors of the Bloodstone Army into Heliogabalus in Tarsakh, to secure the royal palace there,
which was being occupied by the Royalists, and to throw the city watch out of the military garrison, which would
then be occupied by the royal troops.
After the troops entered the city, the king said, he intended to place Prince Quillan in the royal palace, disband
the Guildmasters Council, order Kelibann out of city hall and appoint Rulmgar as new Burgomaster. The
Bloodstone Troops would have orders to do their best to avoid bloodshed, but the king intended to claim the
Damaran capital, by force, if necessary.
The king was pleased with the growing strength of his forces. The call for adventurers and mercenaries had
been successful to date. Particularly successful had been the offer of Soravian farmland to outsiders willing to
serve for four years with the Soravian militia. A similar program also was working well in Brandiar. Middle level
magi were responding positively to the call of the Bloodstone Kingdom. The monarch’s host began resembling
a ragtag miniature frontier version of the Sword and Wand of Impiltur.
King Gareth told the members of his fellowship that he hoped to establish a magical system of communication
within the Bloodstone Kingdom, modeled on Impiltur’s Scrying Stones of Myth Drannor, to enable him to
communicate immediately and at will with any of the princes, dukes, barons or the burgomaster of Heliogabalus
and perhaps also with Myrddin Viligoth or the commander of the Bloodstone Army.
Shandaril begin to make plans to eliminate the opposition. If Kelibann continued to pose problems for the city
and the Iron Throne, she would have her Calishite assassins eliminate him. She also was resolved to see to it
that the Ree cousins made their permanent departure from the Cold Lands, if King Gareth continued to hesitate.
The mansions of Dimian and Tarkos Ree were heavily fortified and well protected with magic. The wizardess
thought her Calishite assassins might have problems dealing with the Rees. Her thoughts turned instead
toward a Thayan specialist known as Fihdjin Garszh.
From her viewpoint, the Calishite assassins had served their purpose. Raimund Kelibann would be their last
assignment. Five of the 12 had forfeited their own lives in their service to the Iron Throne. As soon as Kelibann
was eliminated and the roads were open to travel, she planned to send the seven survivors well paid over the
Great Dale to New Sarshel, where they could book passage home again.
Almost the entire middle echelon of Tightpurse and much of the upper level had died with bicentas in their
mouths. The lower level, the common thieves, had not been threatened; Shandaril had plans to bring them into
the employ of the Iron Throne. The highest levels of Tightpurse now were sealed within Tarkos Ree’s mansion
in Heliogabalus where they would make an excellent target for Fihdjin Garszh, should his services become
necessary.
Reports from the Duchy of Ironspur and the baronies of Sunderland and Palishchuk all were encouraging. The
occupants of the Black Holes appeared to be occupied with battles below, probably with drow, and were
causing few problems for caravans to and from Darmshall. Prince Darren and Baron Garumbelly had begun
sending mining specialists and warriors out into the snowy foothills to cause the collapse of the Black Holes, but
there were many of them, and it was a job that would take time.
Palishchuk itself and the High Walk were free of serious threats from survivors of Zhengyi’s bands, and Ironspur
had gone back into full operation. The largely unsettled swamplands of the Barony of Palishchuk remained a no
man’s land, but no attempts had been made to cleanse them yet. To do that, Baron Wingham would have to
tackle the problem of Castle Perilous. That was a task beyond the means of Palishchuk; that was a job for the
king.
While much had been going well for both the Bloodstone Kingdom and the Iron Throne, the problem of the
strange vampirism that claimed no victims continued unabated. In the cold autumn and winter months, vampire
attacks had been reported in Bloodstone Village, Virdin, Windless, Palishchuk, Darmshall, Highsong and
Ostrav. Caravans also reported being struck by vampires on Dead Man’s Walk between the Ruins of Moortown
and Bloodstone Pass.
Tarsakh
On the third day of the month, servants of Lord Burgomaster and Guildmaster Kelibann found the new ruler of
Heliogabalus dead in his bloody bed. His throat had been slit, and a bicenta was found in his mouth, the last
job of Shandaril's departing assassins. The members of the Guildmasters Council became alarmed to find the
assassins who had been eliminating thieves suddenly having shifted attention to their own ranks.
They were more interested in buying whatever protection they could for themselves than in choosing a new
burgomaster, a task that well might end in a deadlock anyway. With Kelibann dead, it was likely that all
attempts to elect a replacement would end up undecided on a 35-35 vote.
Thus, the financial capital of the Bloodstone lands remained leaderless when 200 soldiers of the Bloodstone
Army marched into it on the 10th day of Tarsakh, accompanied by Prince Quillan, Rulmgar, Emelyn the Grey,
five junior magi and two dozen men of uncertain origin who had accompanied Rulmgar.
The marching force went first to the royal palace, where the only blood was shed. Some of the Royalists had
holed up in the palace, intent upon holding it against the Bloodstone Army, but they were outnumbered and
outclassed by the elite troop the king had sent to Heliogabalus. Most of the Royalists were slain in the brief
battle. The survivors were taken away in chains to be tried for treason.
No blood needed to be shed to free the garrison of the city watch or to clear city hall of its old occupants. Within
three hours of marching into the city, Prince Quillan was establishing his seat in the Royal Palace, Rulmgar had
taken over city hall and the bulk of the king’s host had begun restoring military order to the royal garrison.
Small groups of soldiers then were sent out into the city to post parchments that informed the public:
• All citizens should continue to lead their normal lives. The army had no desire to wage war against its
own folk.
• Former Damaran Finance Minister Rulmgar was appointed new Burgomaster of Heliogabalus and would
rule the city in the name of the king. The title Lord Burgomaster and Guildmaster had been abolished.
• The Guildmasters Council was disbanded. A new council representing all interests in Heliogabalus would
be established with time.
• The city watch was disbanded. Soldiers of the Bloodstone Army would fulfill watch duty until a new watch
could be established.
• All written laws of the Free City of Heliogabalus except for those defining the guildmasters’ government
continued to be valid and would be enforced to the letter by the Bloodstone Army.
• The Kingdom of Impiltur had been informed in advance of the king’s claiming of Heliogabalus. As a
result, the blockade of Heliogabalus had been lifted.
The petitions bore the signature and seal of Gareth, King of Bloodstone. It was clear that the new king had
asserted his claim to Heliogabalus. While some of the Royalists began plotting against the purported usurper of
the throne, most factions in Heliogabalus waited and watched, to see what would develop.
As Prince Quillan’s troops entered the city, a contingent of 225 of Duke Olwen’s soldiers began patrolling the
Morovian road between Southwatch and Heliogabalus 24 hours a day, in three shifts of 75 men each. When his
soldiers informed him of the Soravian action, the self-proclaimed King of Damara, Dimian Ree in Morovar,
ordered his own military commanders to drive the invaders off.
A Morovian contingent of 100 soldiers - nearly half of the Morovian army - rode out to do that. The Soravian
commander, stationed directly outside Morovar’s wall, tersely told the Morovian general not to enter the road,
proclaiming it a free highway of the Bloodstone Kingdom. He told the Morovian to order his soldiers back into
the city or to face the consequences.
The Morovian general did as he was told. The Soravians were better equipped, better trained and better fed
than his own soldiers. They also were of high morale and motivation, where his troops wished to do nothing so
much as desert. Above all, the Morovian general knew it was pointless to go against King Gareth’s army.
Bloodstone could conquer Morov in two or three days’ time, if it chose to do so. Fate had cast the Morovian
general’s die with the loser in a contest between two kings.
The Morovian commander informed Dimian Ree what had taken place. Ree was furious but powerless to do
anything. His own experience before being appointed by Zhengyi had been as a middle level rogue. He had no
mighty magic with which he could force his army to carry out orders. His army was the full extent of his power.
The limit of that power was the point where his general told him no, and that limit had been reached in this case.
Emelyn the Grey had postponed his return to Warrenwood at the end of Ches, in order to provide the
Heliogabalus troops with magical protection, which proved to be unnecessary. Within a few days, he returned
to Bloodstone Village.
Rulmgar had handpicked the two dozen men he had taken with him from the ranks of the Bloodstone Army.
They were men of his own kind, loyal and talented rogues at heart and fighters in spirit, all of them just as street
savvy as Rulmgar himself.
Shandaril was aghast at the news that Rulmgar had been appointed Burgomaster of Heliogabalus. With this
move, King Gareth had played an incredibly high trump card against her, one she couldn’t beat. She never had
anticipated such an action, never had considered King Gareth capable of dreaming up such a thing. She
assumed it was an accident, pure coincidence, rather than a spark of genius that heretofore had remained
hidden to her.
Rulmgar was the one figure in King Gareth’s government who could be a serious threat to the Iron Throne and
who, as Burgomaster of Heliogabalus, certainly would be. The former finance minister would, by all rights,
appear to be more at home with the Iron Throne than as the servant of paladins. He was sneaky, snaky and
street wise. He doubtless could and already had slit a few throats with the talents of a high level assassin.
He disliked the strict law-and-order regimen of most paladins, whom he thought were more devoted to laws
themselves than the results they were intended to produce. That was the reason he had fled from his native,
paladin-ruled Impiltur, leaving behind the benefits of having royal blood, distant royal blood, but royal
nonetheless.
Throughout much of his career, Rulmgar had operated more like a street rat than a paladin, and he had taught
others how to act like a street rat. He was willing and ready to use questionable means to obtain his ends,
which had brought him into disrepute with the paladin Lords of Imphras II in Impiltur despite his royal blood.
Nonetheless, there were few people in the Cold Lands that Shandaril could less afford to harm. Indeed, it would
be wise to help see that he come to no harm from other sources. Rulmgar’s death by foul play would be certain
to bring down the holiest of all hells upon the Iron Throne and every other questionable organization in the new
Bloodstone Kingdom.
For every disapproving turn of the eyebrow an Impilturian paladin had made against Rulmgar, their Queen
Sambryl had given him a friendly and mischievous wink. Although the relationship was distant, the young lad
from Hlammach clearly was one of her favorite members of the greater royal family, and her paladins knew the
queen was grieved went he left the kingdom and went to Damara.
If Rulmgar were to be assassinated, Shandaril knew that King Gareth would ask Impiltur to help in the
investigation, and the Land of Imphras would offer far more help than the monarch could imagine. Shandaril
was an epic wizardess of great power, but she was no match for the combined wizards and diviners of epic
level and Narfelli magic whom the queen would send into Damara, were Rulmgar to be slain.
Before they were done, they would have illuminated and looked into every dark corner the Iron Throne had
occupied in the Bloodstone Kingdom and later the Great Dale and Impiltur as well, and while doing so, they
doubtless would find cause to fulfill their long desire to erase her operating center, New Sarshel, from the maps
of Faerûn. By the time Impiltur had finished investigating Rulmgar’s slaying, all Shandaril had built east of the
Vast would lie in ruins, and she herself well might be dead.
The wizardess bit her lip like the proverbial bullet, swallowed hard and accepted her lot. Rulmgar would be
Burgomaster of New Sarshel, and until he moved on to his next assignment, he would do certain damage to her
Iron Throne operations in Heliogabalus.
Shandaril could give no one but herself the blame. She had failed to see the possibility of such an appointment.
She had not implemented the kind of manipulations that would have made it difficult for King Gareth to put
Rulmgar on the burgomaster’s chair. She had failed on this point, and she would have no choice now but to
pay. The price would be expensive at times.
Rulmgar was born in Lyrabar in the Year of the Smiling Hawk (1326) DR. He graduated from the University of
Hlammach as a master of economics in the Year of the Bloodbird (1346 DR). Some of his fellow graduates
contended that Rulmgar earned his diploma more through trickery, a glib tongue and perhaps even cheating
than through diligence.
In his early 20s, Rulmgar already had gotten himself into a number of skirmishes "defending the queen's honor,"
and some say that only his royal blood led the holy justices of Tyr to levy substantial fines against him for cases
of assault that might have drawn a few months time in jail for other offenders.
Shortly after Rulmgar’s 21st birthday in the Year of the Bright Blade (1347 DR), Zhengyi rose in Vaasa. A year
later, in early summer of the Year of the Spur (1348 DR), Rulmgar left Impiltur and crossed into neighboring
Damara, looking for excitement and people who might have more respect for his talents than the holy justices of
Tyr in Impiltur. In the intervening years, he teamed up with followers of Sir Gareth.
Rulmgar and the band he took with him began working quickly after arriving in Heliogabalus. The situation was
ideal for them. Tarkos Ree and the high leaders of Tightpurse had barricaded themselves inside Ree’s
mansion. The middle echelon of Tightpurse had died with bicentas in the mouth. The lower level of Tightpurse
was in a state of chaos. There was no communication between Tarkos Ree’s mansion and the lower thieves,
and their middle echelon leaders all were dead.
The thieves of the guild, who had been virtually abandoned, needed leaders who could think for them, as had
been the custom within Tightpurse for centuries. The men and women whom Rulmgar had brought with him to
Heliogabalus were intelligent, street savvy characters who could give the Tightpurse thieves the leadership they
needed.
It had been one of Shandaril’s goals to deal with the House of the Master’s Shadow in Telflamm, to bring the
thieves of Heliogabalus into the fold of the church of Mask, with which Shandaril had successfully formed some
alliances elsewhere in her domain. Such cooperation had provided the Throne with a certain degree of
protection and other advantages.
Rulmgar’s appointment had forced her to rethink that strategy. If the Throne and Rulmgar were to compete for
winning the loyalty of the abandoned thieves, it was likely that Rulmgar would begin uncovering many of the
Throne's operations while tracking down rival thieves.
Yet another problem remained. Tarkos Ree and the leadership of Tightpurse had blockaded themselves in
Ree’s fortified mansion to protect themselves from assassins, but that was only temporary. It would not take
long before they emerged again, and the chances were good that they would know how to reclaim some of the
thieves who had gone over to Rulmgar’s side, while others would remain loyal to him. That would have
Rulmgar snooping in areas that Shandaril wanted to remain in the shadow.
Thus, she decided, it was time to eliminate Tarkos Ree, to keep the situation as simple as possible. And while
taking care of the master of Tightpurse, she might just as well eliminate his cousin, the self-proclaimed King of
Damara, Dimian Ree, as well. She decided it was time to send for Fihdjin Garszh. Once Garszh had done his
work, she believed, her Iron Throne would gain a bit of breathing space, enough to bring another layer or two of
concealment over her most important Throne operations, before Rulmgar could resume his snooping.
Tightpurse and its abilities to fight a guerilla war against the new kingdom had been a source of serious concern
to King Gareth and his supporters. This threat now had been largely dissipated, not due to his own efforts but
rather to faceless assassins who had cleaned house for him.
If the two remaining obstacles to King Gareth’s goals, Dimian and Tarkos Ree, were to be assassinated as well,
the foundation of the paladin king’s government would be badly shaken. Many could say rightfully that the new
government was built in part upon a large series of assassinations, much the same as had been the case with
Zhengyi’s puppet rulers six years earlier.
Regardless of what King Gareth did, his credibility as a paladin king would be damaged. His government
always would be recognized as one built in part upon the bloodletting of murderers. That would weaken the
government to some extent in matters of moral perceptions as well as law and order. That was what Shandaril
wanted, a militarily powerful government capable of protecting the land but internally weak, unable to interfere
seriously with the Throne's operations.
Mirtul
The merry month began with the opening of the yellow faces of daffodils, but before the month’s end, the blood
red flowers of assassination had become more predominant.
Rulmgar’s men succeeded quickly in winning the loyalty of many of the abandoned Tightpurse thieves. They
soon had bands leading them to stashes of considerable guild treasure, hidden for use according to the
disposition of Tarkos Ree. But Ree had been cut off from these stashes by his own fear of leaving his mansion
complex, believing he would be the easy prey of assassins, once he was in the street.
Rulmgar’s men claimed half of what was taken and distributed the rest among the thieves who had helped raid
the stashes, giving them more wealth than ever had been theirs before, and winning their absolute loyalty.
Rulmgar was taking Tightpurse over, slowly but surely. Within time, many of his thieves were working
knowingly and devotedly against Tarkos Ree. Rulmgar's organization called itself internally the Crooked Key of
Heliogabalus.
But this success soon would be overshadowed by events invisible to the eyes of Rulmgar and his followers.
Fihdjin Garszh had arrived in Heliogabalus, at the invitation of Shandaril, and he now was a guest in her
mansion, although only he, Titus Traud and Shandaril were aware of his presence.
Garszh was Thay’s master assassin. He walked a tight line in his homeland that preserved his reputation as a
valuable tool of all zulkirs and a threat to none of them. He was an epic level sorcerer, fighter and assassin
whose skills were equaled by few in Faerûn.
When he was a youth, Garszh was chosen by his father to be the protector of the family’s sizeable Thayan
estates. His father was a dealer in unusual wares who had extensive trade connections with several powerful
drow families. He negotiated to have his son trained by the drow in combat and magic, the latter, because
Fihdjin had shown considerable talent for the magical arts.
The drow were hired to train the young Thayan well. His years with the black elves were an ordeal, but one that
was productive. The drow determined quickly that Garszh was a poor candidate for wizardry, but that he had a
natural talent as a sorcerer with a particular gift for fire magic. His physique was not that of a warrior, but his
dexterity made him an excellent fencer, and he was gifted in assassin’s skills. After a few years training, Garszh
was able to match the best of the drow assassins in fulfilling contracts from family matrons.
After six years, the contracted period of tutelage had ended. The dark elves sent Garszh back to Thay to his
father, as agreed upon. While Garszh was grateful for the skills he had learned, he had developed a bitter
hatred for his father, because of the ordeals to which his drow tutors had subjected him. The first victim to
suffer a painful death at the hands of the new assassin was Garszh’s father.
After inheriting the family estates, Garszh sold them, amassing a substantial fortune. For the next decade, he
used the profits to travel Faerûn, learning new secrets of magic, poisonous herbalism, alchemy and other arts.
Far and wide in the Realms, he sought contracts and slew his victims, always departing the area where his
deeds had been done before local authorities even were aware of his presence. The years of travel brought
him a collection of many of the Realms’ finer weapons and powerful magical items.
During these years while in the south, Garszh came upon one of the magical workbooks that Shandaril had
used to trap other magi. As always, she was drawn to her intended victim, but Garszh’s assassin’s skills alerted
him to the danger, and Shandaril found herself facing the most powerful opponent of her career to date.
Deadly combat broke out between the two. Shandaril believes to this date that she well might have met her end
there. Garszh was able to counter her magical blows with his own, but he also was able to choose between
spells and weapons that succeeded in seriously injuring the wizardess.
Desperate, Shandaril had called for a truce, and to her surprise, Garszh granted her wish. The two cautious
magi agreed that there was little purpose in trying to destroy one another. Shandaril conceded that Garszh had
won her workbook fairly. For several months, the two traveled and worked together in Amn and Calimshan,
living as lovers. When they at last went separate ways, the bond they had formed remained.
Shandaril gradually moved northward again, arriving at last in Sembia where she became a part of the Iron
Throne. Garszh had returned with time to Thay, where he won a reputation as a master assassin, although he
had not entered the ranks of the Red Wizards. Instead, as his reputation grew, and with it, the desire of
powerful Red Wizards to eliminate him, Garszh made it known that he was willing to accept contracts from any
zulkir, but he would refuse to accept contracts that were against the interests of one or more zulkirs.
This did not prevent Red Wizards from attempting to liquidate Garszh, but their efforts were unsuccessful. And
with time, the zulkirs came to view Garszh as a valuable resource who, indeed, posed no threat to them. Since
then, he has enjoyed their unofficial protection. Many in Thay recognize Garszh as one of the land’s most
competent bringers of death, perhaps second only to Szass Tam, the Zulkir of Necromancy.
Shandaril knew that gold and jewels alone were insufficient to pay for Garszh’s services, although he certainly
would expect a substantial quantity of both. The Thayan assassin demanded interesting things in payment that
he might want and did not yet have. Shandaril already had thoroughly explored the château Severny Tajemstvi
in Novularond Range of Pelvuria and had found many valuable items of Imaskari magic there.
Those she thought could serve her she already had taken. Some she had used in Severny Tajemstvi to protect
the site. One artifact in particular was able to close Severny Tajemstvi to other invaders including magi. Others
she left behind in safekeeping, in case she ever was to have need of them. She was certain she could pay for
Garszh’s services by offering him a chance to explore the lost Imaskari château and to take valuables with him
back to Thay. She calculated correctly.
Garszh made his first attack on the 25th day of Mirtul. He destroyed the mansion of Guildmaster Tarkos Ree
with devastating magic. To this date, it remains unknown exactly how the mansion was destroyed. Witnesses
saw the mansion simply burst into roaring flame.
As the surviving occupants began fleeing the burning mansion, witnesses saw a man in a brown leather robe
standing before it. He began raining magical fireballs onto the fleeing, none of whom appeared to have
survived. Among the dead was the charred corpse of Tarkos Ree. No one recognized the mage assassin, who
simply vanished after the attack.
Shandaril still had hoped to eliminate Dimian Ree in a manner that would not reek so publicly of assassination.
Tarkos Ree was recognized by most as a corrupt criminal, and his spectacular demise was intended to strongly
underline for the public that Tightpurse had ceased to be. However, Dimian Ree still was recognized as the
rightful heir to the throne of Damara, even though the kingdom no longer existed. Shandaril would have
preferred his choosing exile in some distant land to assassination. Such killings, she knew, caused snooping,
particularly by people like Rulmgar.
On the following day, a delegation of important merchants of Heliogabalus, most involved with the Iron Throne,
attempted to go to Dimian Ree in his refuge castle in Morovar. Ree’s guard stopped the party at the gate and
denied admission, until word was sent to the baron. He told the watch to let the merchants enter.
The merchants offered Ree secure transportation to Waterdeep along with a treasury worth 2 million gold talers.
But Ree refused the offer and railed against the delegation, telling them they should be defending their rightful
kingdom and insisting upon rule by their rightful king. Many of the merchants had the impression that madness
had begun conquering Ree’s senses.
With their mission accomplished, the merchants turned back toward Heliogabalus. Few noticed an
inconspicuous man in a brown robe in the streets of Morovar, and none saw one member of the delegation
make a small hand signal to the robed man. Later, however, the delegates did notice flames breaking out in
Morovar, just as the city’s lights were on the verge of vanishing from sight.
Shortly after Dimian Ree had dismissed the deputation, his castle was attacked in the darkness by the brown-
robed mage who blasted it with a wave of fireballs, setting the entire building ablaze. The mage was seen
standing before the burning castle, as he released another volley of fireballs that burned all fleeing occupants of
the castle to a crisp. The charred corpse of Dimian Ree was among the dead who attempted to flee the burning
castle. With the death of the heirless Ree, the claim of Lady Christine and, thus, her husband Gareth
Dragonsbane, to the throne of Damara became legitimate.
Kythorn - Eleint
The events of Mirtul were anything but welcome news to King Gareth and his government. Indeed, they marked
the start of a distinct change within the king that remains to this date. The monarch saw the kingdom of his
vision before him, but it seemed to be little more than a veil that concealed the genuine realities of his new
Bloodstone Kingdom.
Nonetheless, the king knew he had to act quickly and decisively in Morov. He appointed Celedon Kierney as
the new Baron of Morov and assigned to him the 800-man siege army that had been surrounding the barony.
King Gareth told Kierney to confiscate the recently renamed House of the King Inn, which had belonged to
Dimian Ree, and to use it as a provisional baronial manor until another could be built.
He also gave Kierney en edict placing the Morovian militia under his command and bringing the militia into the
Bloodstone Army. He said the entire militia should be mustered, and all those who did not wish to serve in the
Bloodstone Army, regardless of the reason, should be released from service immediately. Almost all of the rank
and file of Morov’s militia had been pressed into service involuntarily.
The king said those officers, ranking soldiers and rank-and-file who wished to remain in the militia should be
allowed to do so, but only after swearing an oath of loyalty to their new baron, their new king and the
Bloodstone Kingdom. Before taking the oath, he said, the soldiers should be reminded that breaking that oath
was treason, and it would be punished accordingly.
King Gareth said the new baron should retain the 800 Bloodstone soldiers assigned to him until he felt the
barony was secure and then send them to Fort Kane. Construction there was nearly completed, and the
opening of the fort was planned for the beginning of Eleint.
Vaasa remained an open question, but Damara clearly was running away from him, the king thought. Someone
or something else steered the internal clockwork of Damara, and when it became impatient with King Gareth’s
willingness to let time settle the problem of the Rees, that invisible force simply took care of the matter itself.
There still was a grandfather or grandmother of assassins somewhere in the land, the king believed, and it was
steering Damara’s internal affairs while Gareth was allowed to serve as the land’s defender and to sit as a royal
symbol for the outside world. And the bottom line, in his eyes, was the fact that his kingdom was guaranteed by
the work of assassins.
Neither Rulmgar’s Crooked Key of Heliogabalus nor the Bloodstone Riders were able to come up with any
useful information on the Ree assassinations. The thieves and other creatures at the bottom of the social
ladder in Heliogabalus appeared to be just as surprised as anyone else at the killings. There were plenty of
rumors, of course, naming the ghost of Zhengyi, the Zhentarim and the Iron Throne as well as King Gareth
himself as being behind the latest assassinations.
It became clear to Rulmgar that the slayings were orchestrated at the highest levels of some organization and
were kept secret. Underlings knew nothing of these events. It may even have been that but a single person in
Heliogabalus was in the know. Several people had seen the assassin in the brown leather robe and had
described him well.
It was not until Eleint that Rulmgar came to know that the description fit a master assassin from Thay named
Fihdjin Garszh. There had been no further signs of the assassin since Dimian Ree’s flaming death, so Rulmgar
assumed correctly that Garszh was safely in Thay again.
Rulmgar already knew that the slayer of Baroness Sylvia in Ostel had been a Thayan bounty hunter named
Sleyvas, who had departed Damara over the Galenas into Impiltur and thereafter escaped the sight of the
Heralds of Imphras II. Rulmgar assumed correctly that Sleyvas too was at home in Thay again.
Although it was tantamount to a red herring, Rulmgar’s thoughts were drawn to the fact that King Gareth’s last
three key opponents, Baroness Sylvia as well as Dimian and Tarkos Ree, all had been slain by Thayans.
Rulmgar did not believe in coincidences; he concluded wrongly that the Red Wizards somehow were stirring
their spoons in Damara’s soup. In truth, there were those in Thay who were watching the bloodstone market
and the development of mines in Damara and Vaasa closely, but the Red Wizards had taken no active interest
in the Cold Lands.
The Crooked Key, with help from the Impilturian Heralds of Imphras II, slowly pieced together many parts of the
puzzle of the Calishite assassins. Rulmgar thought correctly that they probably had been in the service of the
Iron Throne. However, it also was clear that seven of the Calishites had left Damara and reached New Sarshel,
then sailed on to Westgate, where the track was lost.
Whether the five other Calishites still were in Heliogabalus was uncertain, but Rulmgar suspected not. No more
bodies were being found with bicentas in their mouths. Rulmgar assumed some of the Calishites had died in
their battles with Tightpurse.
With the exception of Rulmgar’s appointment as Burgomaster of Heliogabalus, Shandaril found that Damara at
last had reached the status for which she had been striving. However, in the aftermath of the Ree
assassinations, she also knew that the Iron Throne needed to vanish from the Damaran stage for a while, to
keep it as well shielded as possible from Rulmgar’s eyes.
It was an acceptable time to pull in the reins temporarily on Throne operations in Damara. There was nothing
new that the Throne really needed to do until more mines began opening in the Galenas. Everything else
already had been organized according to Shandaril’s plans.
Thus, before Kythorn had ended, orders had been passed through the lines of Throne operatives that subtle
threats and coercion in the business quarter were to come to a dead stop. As far as possible, Throne
operations were to focus on completely legal business.
Shandaril knew that Rulmgar would begin looking closely at the Sembian infiltration of Damaran business. By
this time, the Throne already had an adequate number of native Damaran operatives to take care of many of
the key matters. Thus, Damaran businessmen began appearing to be buying back Damaran business interests
from Sembians, and some of the more prominent Sembian merchants who had been dealing in Heliogabalus
appeared to have divested themselves of their Damaran holdings and returned home.
Rulmgar knew this was a sham, but it still made it difficult for him to deal with the Throne's operations. In the
Bloodstone Kingdom, his only forum for dealing with criminals was the court of law, and there proof was
necessary. However, it is difficult to prove arrangements that have been made by word or mouth between two
persons outside the hearing of witnesses. The Crooked Key of Heliogabalus made little progress in its drive to
uncover the Iron Throne in Damara.
Ironically, the biggest blow to the Throne and also to the Zhentarim came in this summer from King Azoun IV of
Cormyr. His finance ministry had been keeping a close eye on the reopening of bloodstone mining and sales in
the Cold Lands. Cormyr had substantial reserves of bloodstone bars, all of which had dropped in value from 25
to 17 gold lions apiece.
The ministry thought it was time to restore the value lost to its treasury, and the best way to do so would be to
give the bloodstone market a big boost. The Royal Damaran Bloodstone Trust had 42,000 bloodstone bars
available for sale at the price of 17 Impilturian gold talers each. Cormyr ordered 20,000 of the bars at a price of
340.000 Cormyte gold lions.
Waterdeep’s finance circles, which watched such matters closely, followed within two days with an order for
another 10,000 bloodstone bars at a price of 170.000 Waterdhavian gold dragons. The Royal Damaran
Bloodstone Trust immediately published news of the orders and raised the price of the remaining 12,000
bloodstone bars to 19 Impilturian gold talers apiece.
Both the Iron Throne and the Zhentarim were caught off guard. Shandaril’s operatives in Heliogabalus were the
first to act. The Fallen Star Holding Co., a Throne front, ordered the remaining 12,000 bars at a price of
228,000 gold talers. With its sales reserves sold out, the Royal Damaran Bloodstone Trust raised its price for
future orders to 22 gold talers per bar.
The Throne, the Zhentarim and Sembia all wanted their own bloodstone reserves returned to their old market
value, but they all wanted to capitalize as well upon what remained of the depressed prices. Royal Damaran
had projected a mine yield of 50,000 gold bars for the Year of the Wave (1364 DR). At 22 gold talers per
bloodstone bar, the Zhentarim and Sembia each ordered 20,000, and Fallen Star Holding ordered another
10,000.
By mid-Eleasias, the entire mine yield for the coming year already had been sold in advance. Royal Damaran
set the price for future orders for the Year of the Sword (1365 DR) at 27 gold talers. The more financially
sophisticated governments of Faerûn held back from this price, considering it to be inflated, but some of the
Realms’ smaller governments, believing falsely that bloodstone prices were at the beginning of a new upward
spiral, placed substantial advance orders for the mines’ yield in the Year of the Sword at the price of 27 gold
talers.
Royal Damaran expected a mine yield of 72,000 bloodstone bars in the Year of the Sword. At the end of Eleint,
24,000 of those bars already had been sold in advance. In the Year of the Shield (1367 DR), the price dropped
back to the 25-gold-taler level, where it remains today.
Nonetheless, at the end of Eleint, the new Bloodstone Kingdom, Cormyr, Waterdeep, Sembia, the Iron Throne
and the Zhentarim - strange bedfellows - all were satisfied with the development of the bloodstone market in the
Year of the Tide Turned, also known as the Year of the Wyvern.
Other building blocks for the future also were laid in this time. With much pomp and ceremony, King Gareth and
Duke Dormythyrr of Brandiar opened the new Fort Kane training headquarters of the Bloodstone Army west of
Goliad on the first day of Eleint. Fifteen days later, the king joined Friar Dugald in the consecration of the new
Ilmatari Cathedral of St. Dionysus in Goliad.
Marpenoth - Nightal
As the cold half of the year began, those close to him began to notice changes in King Gareth. With each
succeeding winter, fewer members of his old fellowship stayed in Bloodstone Village to await spring, and old
Baron Tranth, one of the king’s most valued counselors, had joined Brother Kane in death. The only member of
the fellowship to spend the new winter in Bloodstone was Emelyn the Grey. In mid-Marpenoth, he and the
queen, Lady Christine, had ended their work for the season in the restoration of Warrenwood.
Prince Quillan and Burgomaster Rulmgar spent the winter in Heliogabalus. Duke Riordan Parnell remained in
Ravensburg. Duke Olwen Forest-Friend was in Kinbrace. And Baron Celedon Kierney was busy trying to bring
the Barony of Morov back together from his provisional castle in Morovar.
King Gareth had become somewhat reclusive. Before long, Lady Christine realized that her husband, the
monarch, was suffering mild depressions. Now that the paladin had achieved most of what he was striving for
in the Cold Lands, he was fixed upon the idea that the kingdom had slipped back out of his hands and that he
merely was administering a legal framework surrounding an invisible network of evil, built by assassins who had
secured the throne for him.
Many times during this winter, the king pondered abdication, with the idea of turning the land over to someone
like Rulmgar, who would know how to brutally drive the weed of evil out of the lands.
1364 DR - Year of the Wave

(Year of the New Wave)
After the turning of the tides in the previous year, Damarans greeted the new year as the one in which their new
era would dawn, thus, the year became known in the Cold Lands as the Year of the New Wave rather than the
Year of the Wave.
Hammer - Ches
Shandaril in Heliogabalus took advantage of the winter rest to further entrench the Throne's infiltration of
business in the Bloodstone Kingdom’s financial capital. At the same time, she attempted to keep the results of
her efforts as invisible as possible, so that Rulmgar would not see them.
The Iron Throne expected old gold and silver mines in the East Galenas to be reopened in the next few years
and new mines where ore and perhaps bloodstone could be won to be opened. These efforts would be largely
private and therefore not under the control of the Royal Damaran Bloodstone Trust Co. The Throne intended to
control trade of the commodities of the new mines. Shandaril intended to see that the right people were in the
right places at the right times to make success inevitable.
In Alturiak an unusually harsh winter broke out in northeastern Soravia, destroying the winter barley crop.
Scrying efforts showed that the cold clearly was the result of spells from the clerics of Auril in the White Retreat.
The winter barley was not a critical crop; enough feed was in Soravia’s granaries to bridge the loss. But it gave
Duke Olwen the opportunity he needed to deal with the monastery and establish future rules for its clerics.
In early Ches, the duke sent a delegation to the monastery with a message for High Hand of Ice Narmella, the
high priestess of the White Retreat. The delegation made no threats. On the contrary, the duke’s diplomats
made clear that all of the Bloodstone Kingdom paid its due respects to the Frost Maiden, as one might expect in
the Cold Lands.
However, they said that they regretted that Alturiak’s cold had destroyed crops. The losses, they said, would
make it impossible for Soravian farmers to sell any crops to the monastery during the coming year, and Duke
Olwen hoped sincerely that the White Retreat’s granaries had sufficient supplies to provide the clerics’ needs
over the next 12 months.
The diplomats suggested that the monastery might secure its own needs better in the future by concentrating its
weather experiments in the unsettled lands north of the Enchanted Hills and in the Great Glacier, where cold
was an element of nature itself, rather than focusing their attention upon the lands that feed them.
High Hand of Ice Narmella understood the message, although it became clear only in the following months how
seriously Duke Olwen had meant it. All roads and trails leading into the Enchanted Hills were patrolled from the
beginning of Tarsakh until late Marpenoth, denying passage both to peddlers and the members of the
monastery who traveled with wagons capable of transporting supplies. It was a year of near fasting for the
White Retreat, which was forced to survive on the food it had stocked the year before.
For Duke Olwen, it was an easy victory and one without bloodshed on either side. The church of Auril had
planned poorly when it constructed its fortress monastery. Militarily, the complex was nearly impregnable, but
the stony soil of the Enchanted Hills made it impossible for the monastery to grow crops.
The priests could have grazed sheep, of course, but it had no means to obtain them after the beginning of Duke
Olwen’s siege. Since the winter bridging the Years of the Tide Turned and the New Wave, Soravia has not
been troubled again by unnatural cold.
Tarsakh - Eleint
In the warm months, both the Princedom of Vaasa and rangers of the Bloodstone Riders reported no new
conflicts between worshippers of Tiamat from Unther and members of the Dragon Cult from the Moonsea
region. It appeared, they said, that these two factions had eliminated each other.
Raids by monsters from the Black Holes who were led by goat’s head priests also had diminished, the
Bloodstone Riders reported. The occupants of the Black Holes in Sunderland appeared to be involved in
battles in the Underdark, if they still survived.
The strange vampirism that had been troubling Vaasa and northern Damara for the past five years continued
unabated, however. All attempts to trap and capture one of the night attackers remained totally fruitless. The
vampires appeared to come from nowhere, feed on their victims, and then vanish back to nowhere again. Over
all five years, there had not been a single death resulting from the vampire’s bites, nor had any victim become
vampire spawn.
There was much speculation that the attacks might be coming from a different type of vampire than had been
heretofore known, one that came from another plane, fed, and returned again to its home plane, but there was
no evidence to support or refute this theory. The church of Ilmater, under the leadership of Friar Dugald, began
an investigation into the vampirism, and he received aid from the monks of the Ilmatari Monastery of the Yellow
Rose, but the clerics and monks could shed no new light on matters.
In Kythorn, two sizeable groups of private prospectors who had their own contingents of warriors appeared in
Ironspur to register new gold and silver mines on the southeastern face of the East Galenas with Duke
Murnaros. The Bloodstone Riders began observing both of the prospectors’ camps but found nothing that was
out of order.
In Flamerule, the king sponsored a large festival in Windless to celebrate the completion of the Damaran Wall.
After the festival, however, speculative rumors begin spreading about the king’s health. Many who attended the
festival noted that King Gareth seemed to be wan, drawn and of low spirits.
During the same month, the leaders of the Damaran Merchants League, which had become heavily infiltrated
by the Iron Throne, celebrated the organization's 25th anniversary with the decision to at last start a project
planned at its inception, to build a series of waytowers protecting trade routes in isolated areas. Zhengyi’s
invasion and the division of the Damaran kingdom had placed those plans on the shelf. Vaasa was included for
the first time in the routes to be protected.
Trade on Dead Man’s Walk and Gramble’s Climb grew noticeably during the course of the year, although both
routes remained dangerous. Moonsea interests who wanted to avoid both Inner Sea pirates and legitimate
authorities were using both routes.
Several rough-and-tumble settlements sprang up or grew larger on the perimeter of the Bloodstone Kingdom in
the course of the year:
• On the ruins of Hulburg on the northeastern coast of the Moonsea, the harbor Falconstar had grown into
a settlement of mostly ramshackle buildings.
• In Thar, at the foot of the pass ascended by Gramble’s Climb, the Harper-influenced thorp of Threshold
continued to develop. The first settlers began selling supplies, horses, food, lodging and later warehouse
space to travelers.
• The fortified, Zhentarim-controlled settlement known as Twilight’s Veil in the West Galenas on the borders
of Thar and Vaasa, where Garumn’s Climb begins its descent to the Vaasan Plain, continued to grow.
• Glister in Thar grew in size and importance and became ever more a place of intrigue and adventure.
The Bloodstone Riders watched the development of Twilight's Veil with particular concern. Zhentarim and
Mulman caravans both traveled over Glister to enter Vaasa on Dead Man's Walk, often fighting with each other.
That fighting was expected to increase, because the Zhentarim built Twilight's Veil at a narrow point on Dead
Man's Walk that straddles a particularly dangerous wet moor.
To proceed on, one must ride through the wooden gates of Twilight's Veil. The Zhentarim began charging
competitors a steep tax to ride not only into but also out of Twilight's Veil. Mulman merchants grumblingly paid
taxes in the first season, but there was widespread speculation that Mulmaster would retaliate in some way
during the coming new Year of the Sword.
The bard Simbyin Greenwater of Harrowdale, who had been riding among the settlements of Vaasa to gain lore
and news, composed a song he did not sing in Zhentarim areas. It speculated that Mulmaster was debating
over fireballs and flaming arrows, an obvious reference to the fact that Twilight's Veil was made entirely of
wood.
Caravans from Melvaunt and other less evilly aligned lands who were not so worried about Harper interference
began sending their caravans over Gramble's Climb to the south, a key factor leading to the further settlement
of Falconstar and Threshold.
Marpenoth - Nightal
The Cold Lands enjoyed the most peaceful winter since the rise of Zhengyi.
1365 DR - Year of the Sword

After the Year of the New Wave, both Damara and Vaasa became more stable than they had been in years.
The following seasons were marked more by growth than by turmoil, although the problems with vampirism
continue unabated into the present, and the threats of the fortress castle atop Suncatcher Mountain and of the
dragons in the ruins of Castle Perilous remain. Beginning with the Year of the Sword, our summaries will deal
with each year as a whole rather than being presented in seasonal breakdowns.
By the Year of the Sword, King Gareth’s program to draw more people into Damara with a promise of good
Soravian farmland in return for military service had proved to be a success. The kingdom’s army, comprised
largely of the provincial militias, had expanded to a point that the king and his princes, dukes and barons had a
free hand in enforcing their laws, if not always the ability to detect offenses or find the offenders.
The Monastery of the Golden Cup was completed in late Tarsakh, as the first Ilmatari candidates for training as
monks and paladins began arriving from several lands surrounding the Inner Sea. Among those attending the
monastery’s consecration, under the aegis of Friar Dugald, were Prince Darren of Vaasa, Baron Garumbelly of
Sunderland and Baron Wingham of Palishchuk.
After the ceremonies, the king called the three to a conference and outlined his plans to begin militarily
asserting the Bloodstone Kingdom’s claim to Vaasa. If the three nobles were in agreement, the king said, he
planned to begin building a fortified settlement to be called Gatehold on Dead Man’s Walk north of the Vaasan
Wall. The settlement, he said, would straddle Dead Man’s Walk, being partly in the Barony of Sunderland and
partly in the Barony of Palishchuk. The site was on a small lake called the Silvermere, which is a widening of
the Beaumaris at the point where the land surrounding it starts rising toward the Galenas.
All three Vaasan nobles agreed to the king’s plan. The crown hired more than 500 men and dwarves to build
the fortified settlement 5 miles/8m north of the Vaasan Wall, a combination of stone and wooden structures with
a large fort. The site had been a staging area for Mulman caravans, and merchants from the Mulmaster were
the first to begin erecting wooden buildings in the settlement surrounding the construction site of the army
fortress. The Mulman interests were eager to build there, because the site gave their traders and caravans the
advantage of military protection.
Most of Gatehold still resembled a ramshackle construction site when cold set in early in Marpenoth, ending
building projects for the year. But the central structures of the fortress were completed in mid-Eleint. Under
sunny but chilly skies late in the month, King Gareth led his Royal Paladin Guard and a troop of 600 officers and
soldiers out of Bloodstone Pass and up Dead Man’s Walk to Gatehold, to dedicate Fort Gatehold.
Sir Zambelraun, an expatriate Impilturian Ilmatari paladin who had been an instructor at the Monastery of the
Golden Cup, became commanding general of Fort Gatehold after its opening. With the fort, the 3rd Battalion of
the Bloodstone Army's 1st Regiment is stationed. The king said the soldiers of Fort Gatehold would have the
often difficult task of protecting the Vaasan Plain.
The king told the soldiers that the problem of dragons lairing in the ruins of Castle Perilous continued to be a
festering wound in the Princedom of Vaasa and the Barony of Palishchuk. However, he and the Vaasan nobles
had decided for several reasons not to tackle this problem yet but rather to keep a close eye on the situation.
King Gareth said that there was no evidence that new dragons had been drawn in the past few years to the
ruins, thus, the threat there remained stable and was not growing into a more serious matter. In addition, there
had been no serious hostile actions taken by the dragons against Vaasa or Damara up to that time.
To combat the estimated 50 dragons in the ruins successfully, the king said, he needed a mighty army and a
battery of strong magi. While the dragon threat stagnated, the king said, the Bloodstone Kingdom’s strength
continued to grow in both respects. In addition, when the time came to move against the dragons - as it
certainly would - the Bloodstone Kingdom could count upon substantial military and magical help from Impiltur.
The king told his audience that he, Regent War Captain Kyrlraun of Impiltur and the Impilturian Queen Sambryl
all were certain that the occupants of the mysterious fortress castle atop Suncatcher Mountain were in
command of the dragons in the ruins. Exactly what the intentions of those occupying Suncatcher were
remained a mystery, he said, but he and the rulers of Impiltur knew that the mountain castle and the dragons in
Zhengyi’s ruins were a dire threat to both lands, and they would have to deal with Suncatcher as well as with
the witch king’s ruins one day.
Thus Fort Gatehold was dedicated. However, the settlement of Gatehold that grew around the fort was another
matter, one that deviated again from King Gareth’s plan for his Bloodstone Kingdom. It became a rapidly
growing, free-wheeling, rough-and-tumble community, unofficially run by Lil Trangolyn, the proprietress of its
first and then only inn, the Silvermere Lodge.
The somewhat crude and shady town became a haven for adventurers. It also served caravans as well as
shady characters who did not care to enter the more strictly ruled Princedom of Damara but rather wait for other
people to leave it.
The Year of the Sword marked substantial new growth for the Barony of Palishchuk. Through word of mouth,
the news had spread throughout the Inner Sea region of a new land where half-orcs ruled and were treated with
respect by their human and even some dwarven counterparts.
Baron Wingham’s followers had indeed gained the respect of most civilized beings in Vaasa and northern
Damara, with the reluctantly polite Baron Garumbelly of Sunderland being the biggest exception. The dwarves
of Ironspur and the Orothiar dwarves of Bloodstone Pass had become close allies of the half-orcs of Palishchuk,
unlikely as that may seem. But the Hillsafar dwarves, while extending the required formal politeness to Baron
Wingham and his followers, made no attempt to complement it with a friendly handshake.
That tense situation ended abruptly in the Year of the Sword. Unknown to King Gareth or any of the other
nobles of the Bloodstone Kingdom, Baron Garumbelly had been hiding away an ancient master runecutter of
substantial power in the deepest smithy of his halls.
Although the ruins of Castle Perilous were in Wingham’s barony, and although neither Price Darren nor King
Gareth had authorized any such actions, Baron Garumbelly and the runecutter, an ancient bearded one named
Fidh, conspired over dwarven spirits to learn the secret of the dragons in the ruins of Castle Perilous. Fidh’s
talent as a runecutter was great, and he was one of few of the stout folk ever to have mastered the art of
sending runes well.
Fidh had used runes of scrying to learn the names and identities of several of the dragons lairing in Zhengyi’s
ruins. He was surprised to find that the dragons had human type names rather than those traditional for
dragons. Fidh and Baron Garumbelly decided that Fidh should send a rune of summoning to an adult blue
dragon in the ruins named Tornus Blitsen, with the intention of forcing him to come to Hillsafar Hall, where a
second rune was to have compelled him to tell all he knew of what was happening in the ruins and why.
The conspiracy doubtless would have succeeded, had Fidh’s runes been directed to a genuine living dragon.
However, neither he nor Baron Garumbelly knew that the occupants of Zhengyi’s ruins were vampire dragons
rather than living dragons. Thus, they were unaware that the rune Fidh was sending would be largely
ineffective.
Tornus Blitsen did indeed receive Fidh’s rune, but it was unable to force the vampire dragon to obey the
summons. Tornus Blitsen, however, understood the rune well, and he was angered at the dwarves’ audacity.
Despite the orders of Sammaster and Kargmelchina, he decided to teach the sender a lesson, and he recruited
seven other vampire dragons to join him on a short flight to Hillsafar Hall.
A joint patrol from the units of Prince Darren, Baron Garumbelly and Baron Wingham, which had come from Fort
Gatehold, was patrolling the Vaasan road between Darmshall and Hillsafar Hall when the dragon flight passed
in the sky. It turned to pursue the dragon flight. It was an elite unit which had been given the job of scouting the
Black Holes of Sunderland with the goal of eventually leading expeditionary forces into the holes, to eliminate
the bandits, monsters and goat’s head priests holed up in them.
Some of the most talented members of the Bloodstone Army were assigned to duty in Fort Gatehold, chosen
because of the dangers of duty in Vaasa. Within this unit were six half-orc volunteers from the Moonsea region
who had been led by a warrior-mage named Tarnguht. He and his band soon would handle more important
assignments than patrol riding and scouting, but Baron Wingham was well aware that his fellow half-orcs could
be treacherous. He always tested newcomers with dangerous missions before deciding where they could work
best.
Tarnguht and his companions were proud folk who had been discriminated against by humans, although they
had sought to stand side by side with them as equals in combat against marauding goblinkind and giants in
Thar, the Ride and the Tortured Land. Tarnguht and his followers often engaged in combat with units of the
Zhentarim, gaining over the years a number of powerful magical items as well as spellbooks for Tarnguht.
Tornus Blitsen and his wave of seven other vampire dragons winged toward Hillsafar Hall bent upon
destruction. Baron Garumbelly and his clan were ill equipped to combat the flight. Availing over little magic that
was useful against undead dragons, their effective arsenal was limited mainly to catapults, ballistae and
crossbows.
Blitsen was a particularly troublesome enemy, because he had spent much of the human side of his life as a
mage who led a band of brigands that attacked and robbed dwarven mines in the Great Rift. He knew well how
dwarven shafts and halls were constructed and what signs they left upon the surface.
While the seven other vampire dragons warred with their breath weapons against the dwarven defenders of
Hillsafar Hall, Blitsen concentrated on doing the maximum damage possible to the first underground level of the
halls, picking what he believed to be key structural points and blasting them with lightning in the hopes of
causing as many underground cave-ins as possible. He was surprisingly successful, and Baron Garumbelly
was becoming desperate, as he saw most of the shafts leading to his halls’ gates crumbling in ruin.
It was at this time that the riders from Fort Gatehold arrived at the scene. Among the riders were several with
magical bows and arrows who were able to wound the attacking vampire dragons with more than mere
pinpricks. Tarnguht, after assessing what was happening, drew his most powerful magical item, an ancient
Netherese talisman of command, and he used it to order Blitsen to land. Although vampire dragons are
resistant to most normal magical commands, Blitsen was unable to resist the order of the Netherese talisman.
The greatest warrior of Tarnguht’s band, one named Margurt, advanced with his sword drawn upon the
grounded blue. His blade was no simple weapon but rather a powerful Dragonbane sword that had been taken
from a slain Zhentarim foe. It not only had the ability to deal substantial damage to dragon flesh, but it also was
able to deflect the breath attacks of all dragons.
The rest of Tarnguht’s band attacked Blitsen with lesser magical weapons from the flanks while Margurt
continued to draw the wyrm’s main attention. From the sidelines, Tarnguht attempted to batter Blitsen with
spells, although most were not particularly effective.
Blitsen decided his huge dragon form was a disadvantage against the band of half-orcs, so he bore their attacks
defenselessly while turning into his hybrid dragon-human form. The seven other vampire dragons who had
accompanied Blitsen continued to be a threat to both Hillsafar Hall and the patrol. But they were disquieted to
the extreme to see that their attackers had been able to force Blitsen with magic to the ground, to engage in
melee combat. They were even more distraught to see that Blitsen felt forced to change forms.
None of the seven wanted to be the next victim of whatever magic had forced Blitsen down, and they also were
worried over the possible punishments their masters on Suncatcher Mountain, who had enslaved them, might
have in store, were they continue to disobey their orders and remain in combat. One by one, the seven vampire
dragons decided to retreat back to the ruins of Castle Perilous and leave Blitsen to his own fate.
Blitsen was a more difficult foe than Tarnguht’s band had suspected. All eight were badly injured before the
blue vampire dragon had been destroyed. When the battle finally ended, the wounded half-orcs witnessed
another mystery. The winged, human-sized corpse they had battled began turning back into a dragon-sized
framework of bones, hanging with dried rotten dragon flesh, as though it were the carcass of a wyrm that had
been dead for several years.
Blitsen’s carcass was well guarded by the Hillsafar Clan and soon would become the subject of study by magi
and sages from the Bloodstone Kingdom, the Kingdom of Impiltur and the Harpers. The carcass at last led one
to the conclusion that at least some of the wyrms lairing in the ruins of Castle Perilous were undead dragons,
probably of a vampiric nature, and the suspicion began to grow that these undead dragons in their human-sized
form may have been the source of the unabated series of vampire bites in Vaasa and northern Damara.
Before that, however, the patrol’s wounded, above all the eight half-orcs of Tarnguht’s band, were taken through
still undamaged passages of Hillsafar Hall into lower levels, where they were healed by Baron Garumbelly’s
priests.
The baron, who had hated half-orcs all of his life, had considerable difficulty dealing with the knowledge that the
upper levels of Hillsafar Hall had been saved only by the valor of eight half-orcs who nearly had sacrificed their
own lives to defend him and his clan. But Garumbelly Hillsafar was dwarf enough to follow the right path.
He not only expressed his gratitude to Tarnguht’s band but also followed his own new but difficult path,
recognizing that his Ironspur and Orothiar cousins were right, that it was time for him to swear friendship and
alliance with Baron Wingham and the half-orcs of Palishchuk, in order that all might be best prepared for the
war that was certain to come between them and their true enemy, the denizens of the ruins of Castle Perilous.
For most, the vampire dragon attack was the most important event of the Year of the Sword, but other matters
occurred as well with Vaasa commanding center stage. Twilight’s Veil was in unclaimed land between Vaasa
and Thar, beyond the jurisdiction of the Bloodstone Kingdom, but events there played a key role in Vaasan
affairs. Conflicts continued between the Zhentarim and caravans from Mulmaster that were attempting to enter
Vaasa over Dead Man’s Walk.
In late Mirtul, what seemed to be a Mulman caravan approached the wooden palisade walls of Twilight’s Veil
like a Trojan horse, with a large number of warriors from Mulmaster springing out of the wagons, accompanied
by several accomplished mercenary magi who attacked the settlement with fire magic. Before the battle ended,
both sides had suffered serious losses, and most of Twilight’s Veil had been razed.
Lower level Zhentarim began rebuilding the settlement, but the growing difficulties with the church of Cyric
inside Zhentil Keep drew the eye of the Black Network away from Vaasan operations, with few talented
Zhentarim being sent into Twilight's Veil. Thus, various factions rebuilt the settlement as an open border town
where almost anything went and there was little sense of law and order.
Mulmaster took the weakening of the Zhentarim as a cue to build its own toll operation in Vaasa. In Kythorn, a
makeshift settlement populated by mercenary warriors and hedge wizards in the service of Mulmaster began
rising north of Nigel’s Ford in the Barony of Palishchuk. In early Flamerule, riders from the new settlement,
which called itself Asfaloth, began patrolling Nigel’s Ford and demanding payment of a toll from all travelers
there.
Prince Darren and Baron Wingham conferred briefly on the matter with King Gareth. All were agreed that it was
time to teach Mulmaster, the Zhentarim and anyone else who was watching that all of Vaasa is a part of the
Bloodstone Kingdom and that the laws of the kingdom, the princedom, the Ironspur duchy and the two baronies
are to be obeyed by anyone who enters Vaasa.
Prince Darren sent a battalion of soldiers of the Bloodstone Army to the area to deal with the problem, but
before they arrived, in the Year of the Staff (1366 DR), the Zhentarim had abandoned Twilight Veil and the
Mulman merchants had abandoned their toll station. The soldiers destroyed the empty toll station before
returning home. Afterward, King Gareth approved the establishment of field outposts in the Barony of
Palishchuk at the foot of Dead Man Walk’s mountainous trek beneath Twilight’s Veil and at the foot of
Gramble’s Climb in the Barony of Sunderland.
The king also ordered construction of fortified outpost towers at both locations. Although construction was
begun in the Year of the Sword, the towers weren’t completed until the Year of the Staff (1366 DR). The
outpost on Dead Man’s Walk became known as Swampgate. The tower below Gramble’s Climb was called
Southgate. As one might expect with protected areas where soldiers are stationed, small settlements grew later
around both outposts.
As an added member of security, the king bolstered the Vaasan branch of the Bloodstone Riders with half-orc
rangers from Palishchuk and additional rangers from Damara, placing all of them under the command of
Mariabronne, a veteran Vaasan ranger who long had served Spysong and later the Bloodstone Riders. With
the appointment, Damara and Vaasa each had its own arm of the Bloodstone Riders, directly answerable to
their own prince and to the king.
In the Year of the Sword, the Bloodstone Kingdom also gained the power of magical communication. King
Gareth had given the Cormyte epic archmage Panus Anghelkhus a commission in the Year of the Tide Turned
(1363 DR) to create the system, reportedly at a cost of 100,000 bloodstone bars (2,500,000 gold talers) from
the king’s own private treasury.
Anghelkhus arrived in Bloodstone Village in Kythorn to deliver his work, the Bloodstone Talismans, to collect his
commission and also to accept King Gareth’s appointment as court mage in Bloodstone Village. His was one of
two key appointments made by the king in the Year of the Sword. The other was the naming of Friar Dugald as
Archbishop of the Bloodstone Kingdom.
Anghelkhus delivered to the king the Bloodstone Talismans, a set of 23 magical figurines, each holding an
ensorcelled bloodstone. The Bloodstone Talismans were modeled upon Impiltur’s legendary Scrying Stones of
Myth Drannor, although they were much less powerful than their Impilturian model. They were delivered from
Kythorn until the end of Eleasias to the following:
• King Gareth in Bloodstone Village

• The queen, Lady Christine in Warrenwood
• Court Mage Panus Anghelkhus in Bloodstone Village
• Regent War Captain Kyrlraun in Impilturian Lyrabar
• Archwand Daerthnur in Impilturian Ilmwatch
• Grand Master of the Flowers Cantoule in the Monastery of the Yellow Rose
• Prince Quillan in Heliogabalus
• Prince Darren in Darmshall
• Friar Dugald in Goliad
• Duke Dormythyrr in Goliad
• Duke Olwen in Kinbrace
• Duke Tarun in Valls
• Duke Riordan in Ravensburg
• Duke Murnaros in Ironspur
• Baron Garumbelly in Hillsafar Hall
• Baron Wingham in Palishchuk
• Baron Celedon in Morov
• Baron Hobart in the Waukeshire
• Baron Tom in Ostel
• Baron Donlevy in Polten
• Burgomaster Rulmgar in Heliogabalus
• Myrddin Viligoth, commander of the Damaran Bloodstone Riders
• Mariabronne, commander of the Vaasan Bloodstone Riders
The basic property of the talismans was their ability to allow the wearer to communicate telepathically with the
bearers of other talismans. The talismans all could communicate with all of the others. Although it had nothing
to do with the magical properties of the talismans, each was crafted to symbolize a bearer. King Gareth’s
talisman symbolized a king, Friar Dugald’s a bishop, Anghelkhus’ a wizard, Quillan’s a prince, Olwen’s a duke,
Garumbelly’s a dwarven baron, Rulmgar’s a burgomaster, etc.
Each talisman was keyed by magic to its intended user. It would be useless in the hands of another. Along
with the talismans, Anghelkhus also presented King Gareth with a thin, magical, leather-bound book of vellum-
inscribed pages containing the spell needed to change the identity of a talisman’s bearer. The magical script
was similar to that of a magical scroll, except that the text was inscribed permanently and could be used again
and again. With the magical book, court magi could pass the talismans on to future bearers.
However, the talismans were not able to look into or snoop on the activities of the Iron Throne in the Bloodstone
Kingdom, the threat that troubled King Gareth most of all. Burgomaster Rulmgar in Heliogabalus was finding
success with the Crooked Key of Heliogabalus, but it was a slow process.
After two years, several members of the key had managed to reach middle levels of Throne operations in
Heliogabalus and were able to present Rulmgar with part of the picture of intertwined relationships that existed
with the throne in the financial capital. However, the information that the burgomaster was gaining contributed
little toward the solution of the problem of the Iron Throne. Rather, it showed just how complex, complicated
and difficult such solutions would be.
The Key was finding little that could be identified as a pure Throne operation. Instead, its agents found many
businesses in Heliogabalus that were owned jointly by a number of people. Some of them were suspected
Throne operatives but most were probably innocent business partners. The earlier businesses that were
infiltrated in this manner usually had partners who were immigrants from Sembia.
Recent partnerships tended to be more difficult to unravel. Instead of Sembians, Tightpurse found new
Damaran partners who also were partners in other ventures that included Sembian partners. It appeared that
these Damarans were representing the Throne - wittingly or unwittingly - in newer partnerships. One apparent
result was that the Throne had a certain voice within and inside knowledge of a substantial number of business
operations in Heliogabalus.
There appeared to be practical results as well. The Throne, through its infiltration of these businesses, played a
key role in deciding who received lucrative contracts, whose orders would be filled and the like. Agents of the
Key also had gained inside information of the smuggling of contraband and illegal Impilturian swamp whisky
through the Great Dale, but it appeared that the Throne was being careful about illegal operations in Damara.
In Vaasa, the Throne was focusing upon gaining exclusive contracts with new private mines. It also was
watching operations of the Zhentarim closely and there were rumors that the Throne was waiting for the
troubles with the Cyricists in Zhentil Keep to reach a crisis point, at which time the Throne might step in and take
over operations of the Black Network.
The Iron Throne was not oblivious to the existence of the Key. However, both the Throne and the Key faced the
problem that nothing more than small- to middle-sized fish were landing in their nets and these seldom were
worth catching. Shandaril knew that the Key was Rulmgar’s operation; so did most street thieves. But the
identities of the Key’s upper level, those who ran the Key for Rulmgar, remained invisible to her.
Rulmgar never had heard Shandaril’s name. He was aware of the reclusive Madeleine Tiegarth, who lived in
Heliogabalus, but he had no information that cast any suspicion upon her. The Key had given him the names of
many people who seemed to represent the Throne within businesses, but it had found no information to indicate
who pulled their strings. The effective successes of the Key were minimal. The organization had succeeded in
bringing to justice only a few small time thieves and assassins who had served the Throne.
Both Rulmgar and Shandaril paid a price for their inability to see the top of the other’s operations. Rulmgar had
a monarch who hated the fact that he owed his crown in part to assassins serving the Iron Throne, a king who
was suffering depressions as a result of this fact. Rulmgar had been unable to effectively combat the Throne.
Shandaril, on the other hand, was forced to earn her profits for the Throne in the Bloodstone Kingdom largely
through activities that were legal albeit sometimes questionable.
There were many potential illegal means of earning profits for the Throne in Damara that she would have liked
to have implemented, but the effectiveness of Rulmgar’s Key made her stay her hand. She knew if the Throne
were to begin illegal operations, and if the Key were to succeed in infiltrating them, that the end results were
unforeseeable. Her entire network in Damara could begin toppling like dominoes, particularly if the king were to
issue edicts that strictly controlled the free and open trade the Bloodstone Kingdom enjoyed.
By and large, the Year of the Sword proved profitable for the Throne. After a few years of negotiations and the
payment of a substantial sum to offset the duchy’s costs for freeing the shafts, Duke Olwen of Soravia
recognized the claim of the Damaran Merchants League that it was the rightful owner of Justin’s Mine. In
addition, the league signed a contract with Duke Murnaros of Ironspur, making it the exclusive distributor of all
iron products and raw iron bars taken from the Ironspur Clan mines.
Handus Leary, a native Damaran merchant who had become one of the Throne's highest ranking members in
the Bloodstone Kingdom, was chairman of the league. Leary was a charismatic man who usually succeeded in
persuading the league’s board to accept his recommendations.
Leary worked directly under Titus Traud, the paramour of Shandaril, and was one of few people in Heliogabalus
who knew of Traud’s connection to the Throne. However, Leary knew nothing of Shandaril, nor did he suspect
that Traud’s apparent mistress, Madeleine Tiegarth, had anything to do with the Throne.
In the course of the year, the Damaran Merchants League began establishing the waytowers it had planned on
the route to the Moonsea. The goal was to establish a waytower every 15 miles/25 km - the distance a caravan
could make in a day - between settlements with facilities. Heliogabalus was the starting point. The first two
towers were completed in the Year of the Sword, one halfway between Goliad, the ducal seat of Brandiar, and
Fort Kane and the second between Fort Kane and Windless in the Barony of Bloodstone.
The waytowers were manned and contained defensible food supplies and barracks for the caravan crews.
Each tower had small corrals that held fresh horses. They could be exchanged for those drawing caravan
wagons and watering holes. The league also built horse stalls and corrals at the other overnight stops of
Morovar, Wassen, Goliad, Fort Kane and Windless.
The problems with vampire bites in Vaasa and northern Damara continued throughout the year but they did not
grow worse.
1366 DR - Year of the Staff

A mild winter, an early spring and a late autumn brought one of the best farming years in modern Damaran
history with bountiful harvests. With drought in some parts of the Vast, there was a strong market for grains,
non-perishables and conserves. The merchants of Heliogabalus were surprisingly well prepared for the
booming commodities market of the Year of the Staff and managed to purchase most of the crop surplus. Their
preparedness was at least surprising to those who were unaware that the Iron Throne had steered the
operation.
Private prospectors in the East Galenas in the Duchy of Ironspur opened eight small mines, one bloodstone,
three gold and five silver. All but one silver mine were between Ironspur and Bloodstone Village. The exception
was in the remnants of Dawngreeter between Ironspur and the Soravian Justin’s Mine. The assaying samples
had hardly been confirmed before the Damaran Merchants League already had closed resale contracts with the
prospectors.
With the turbulence caused by the Bane Death in Zhentil Keep, the Zhentarim moved completely out of
Twilight’s Veil in Tarsakh, leaving it as a rough-and-tumble open town. However, Iron Throne agents in the
town had sent word on to Heliogabalus of what was in the works. Less than a month had passed when a group
of traders from the Damaran Merchants League, accompanied by a band of 50 tough mercenaries, entered
Twilight’s Veil from the Vaasan Plain and took control of it.
In mid-Mirtul, Mulmaster stopped paying the mercenaries it had placed in Asfaloth, and they dispersed. The
patrols of the Bloodstone Riders had made their services rather useless in punishing the Zhentarim, and with
the Black Network’s evacuation of Twilight’s Veil, Mulmaster no longer had anything for which it could want to
retaliate in Asfaloth.
However, in the same month, a band of Mulman merchants registered a new Snowriders Trading Coster with
the Duchy of Palishchuk, with holdings in Asfaloth. A month later, the coster registered with the Barony of
Sunderland, naming Gatehold as its operational headquarters.
Both the Bloodstone Riders and Iron-Throne-affiliated agents of the Damaran Merchants League began keeping
an eye on the new operation. At the outset, the Snowriders appeared to be involved mainly in selling furs and
forged metal products in return for bloodstone bars and agricultural commodities, mainly wheat and oats.
In addition, word was received in late Kythorn from Throne agents in the Moonsea region that Mulmaster was
busy working on some secret project to create a new and faster route of its own into the Bloodstone Kingdom.
All that was visible, however, was work on a new road capable of carrying caravan traffic that branched off of
the North Road southeast of Mulmaster and led eastward across the northern edge of the forest at the southern
foot of the mountains between Mulmaster and Maskyr’s Eye in the Vast.
Soravian merchants became aggressive in their search for more business. The Iron Throne had paid only
occasional attention to the frontier duchy and was taken by surprise with the Soravian moves. One Soravian
organization, which called itself the Icerunners, made contact and reached trade agreements with the Ulutian
Tribe of Pelvuria, the Great Glacier.
The glacial natives began trading rare skins and gems for wooden and metal goods fashioned by Soravian
artisans. The Icerunners established a frontier settlement below the northeastern tip of the East Galenas that
they named Kelvar’s Crag. This began serving as the meeting point for trade between the Damarans and the
Ulutians.
Until the Year of the Staff, Mulmaster had been seen as being active mainly in Vaasa, letting the goods its
merchants exported funnel their way through other trading organizations into Damara. In Flamerule, however,
the Mulman Snowriders Trading Coster, which recently had registered its headquarters in Gatehold, in Vaasan
Sunderland, began being active in parts of Damara.
Another organization of Merchants from Calaunt in the Vast arrived in Damara in Flamerule, registering itself as
the Dawnstar Trading Coster. The coster made a spectacular arrival in Damara, debarking from a large trade
ship in Impilturian Hlammach, where the merchants purchased the wagons for their caravan and hired trail
guards. The trade caravan made its way northward through Impiltur and the Impilturian villages on the
Merchants Way in the Great Dale, crossing into Damara at Lenchford.
Their goal was well selected. With the strong focus upon pioneering, hunting, logging and farming, the new
coster’s goods were sold out within a month. The coster brought a wide variety of products from Calaunt’s
tanneries and leather artisans to Damara, ranging from saddles to chaps and belts. Leaders of the coster
promised new shipments in spring and also talked of expanding.
Shandaril watched the success of Dawnstar Trading with great satisfaction. Dawnstar was a key Iron Throne
operation in the tanners’ city of Calaunt. In the coming years, she planned to expand Dawnstar’s operations
into other areas of the Bloodstone Kingdom, with the long-term goal of establishing local tanneries to make
expensive imports from Calaunt unnecessary. She thought she could control the Damaran and Vaasan leather
markets with little difficulty.
In the same year, Duke Olwen, with support from King Gareth, sent representatives out to Nar-sek Qu’istrade to
meet with leaders of the Aingst and Var tribes of Narfell. Both the king and the duke wanted Nar permission to
reopen the long-closed Cutrock and Howser’s mines as well as Howser’s Trail, which connects, them, in the
hobgoblin-infested Giantspires.
The Damarans offered the two tribes 15% each of the gems taken from the mines, which produced a quick
agreement from the Narfelli, who lacked the military power to take on the hobgoblins of the Giantspires
themselves. Kinbrace began making exploratory expeditions to Cutrock in the summer months, but Duke
Olwen put off his major attack to claim Cutrock until the following spring.
In late Eleasias, Duke Olwen received a visit from a masked lady from the distant north, Felice Assumbrar, an
archwizardess and native of Impiltur who had spent many years in Silverymoon serving Lady Alustriel. She
made known her desire to resettle in Soravia’s Stormhaven Hills.
Lady Felice made no secret of her affiliation with the Shadowdale branch of the Harpers. She said her Harper
faction supported the decentralized Bloodstone Kingdom that had been established by King Gareth, recognizing
the need for a strong defense of the Bloodstone Lands, but it was worried that the monarch might eventually
engage in too strong an alliance with Impiltur.
The epic wizardess said that such super alliances, with changes in but a few powerful faces, can shift from
benevolent kingdoms into tyrannous empires that are difficult to bring to a fall. However, she said, she and the
other Shadowdale Harpers in Stormstar were loyal to both King Gareth and Duke Olwen, and they had come to
Soravia to aid the Damarans rather than to disrupt their work.
Lady Felice left the duke with his permission and blessings for her plans to construct a tower near Stormstar.
The building, erected with powerful magic, was completed within a tenday. On the first day of Marpenoth, as
the long Damaran winter began extending its chilly hand toward Soravia, Mosstone Tower was dedicated in a
secretive and private ceremony. Among those who attended was Duke Olwen. It also is rumored that both
Elminster and Storm Silverhand of Shadowdale had traveled magically to the dedication and met there with
Duke Olwen.
Before the duke returned to Kinbrace, the Harpers warned him not to underestimate the threat of the hobgoblins
in the Giantspires. Lady Felice said the hobgoblins had nearly succeeded in overrunning Impiltur three and a
half centuries earlier, and there were signs that they were preparing for war again.
She said that covert Harper rangers and magi had been spying on the hobgoblins for more than two decades.
At about the same time that Zhengyi arose in Vaasa, she said, the hobgoblin clans of the Giantspires were
violently brought under the rule of the wily hobgoblin warrior-mage known as Acragash Rednose, Orphaner of
Children, a huge and cunning brute.
His horde, she said, put to the torch the scattered goblin and bugbear communities of the Giantspires and
established the Khanate of Acragash, which still persists today, although it suffers under constant internal strife
as the various clans vie for power. The current khan is Tem Redeye, a hobgoblin archmage who descended
from Acragash Rednose.
Tem Redeye’s ancestors also include Dirghin Rednose, the hobgoblin chieftain who first discovered Narfelli
magic in the ruins of Dun Tharos, and his grandson, Tark Rednose, who led the hobgoblin horde in its attack
upon Impiltur in the Year of the Dawndance (1095 DR). (For more details see The Great Dale, Part 6 of
Northern Journey).
In recent years, however, the hobgoblins again had been amassing into ever-larger military units. Lady Felice
said the indications were that Damara rather than Impiltur would be the target this time. After returning to
Kinbrace, Duke Olwen passed these warnings on to his military leaders, and within short order, rumors were
spreading of a threat from the hobgoblins.
Not only Duke Olwen and King Gareth but also Shandaril in Heliogabalus were aware that some 200,000
hobgoblins were enclosed in the Giantspires, locked in by the Nentyarch to the south, Damara to the north and
west and Narfell to the east. The hobgoblins no doubt would be able to flood onto the Narfelli Plain with ease,
but heading eastward would be purposeless for them. There was nothing to win on the Narfelli Plain or farther
eastward on the Great Waste.
If the hobgoblins decided to break out of the Giantspires, their only logical goal would be to flood into Soravia, to
the north and the west. This potential threat concerned not only King Gareth, Duke Olwen and Shandaril but
also Regent War Captain Kyrlraun of Impiltur to the south. While the Impilturians celebrated the deeds of
Imphras I, who defeated the hobgoblin tide in the Year of the Dawndance (1095 DR), they had no desire to
have to repeat his heroic stand again, particularly not on Impilturian soil.
The threat of the hobgoblins led to the first important use of the Bloodstone Talismans. Running discussions
were conducted with the talismans between King Gareth, Prince Quillan, Duke Olwen of Soravia and Baron
Donlevy of Polten on the Damaran side and Regent War Captain Kyrlraun and Archwand Daerthnur on the
Impilturian side.
The two kingdoms sealed a mutual defense pact, with the Bloodstone Kingdom agreeing to fortify the north foot
of the Giantspires and Impiltur agreeing to fortify the south foot, contingent upon the agreement of General
Friedhleif Skjöldurssonur, commander of the Freemen of the Great Dale in Uthmere, whose territory needed to
be crossed by Impilturian troops.
The Bloodstone Kingdom agreed to conquer and fortify the lost mining settlement of Cutrock, as already had
been planned, and then construct two roads, one leading south to the eaves of Rawlinswood and another
beginning in Tellerth and following the northern edge of the Giantspires as far as the old trail up to the lost
Howser’s Mine. The Bloodstone Kingdom also agreed to gradually build a series of fortified waytowers along
the northern road from Cutrock eastward.
In addition, the Bloodstone Kingdom granted the Sword and Wand of Impiltur the right to unlimited use of the
road from Tellerth eastward. Impiltur agreed to build a fortification at the southwestern corner of the Giantspires
and another across the Lench from the ruins of Lenchstigur in the Great Dale, if the plan met with General
Skjöldurssonur’s approval. Impiltur planned to construct forts at both ends of the road with two waytowers
between them.
After the Bloodstone and Impilturian kingdoms had sealed their pacts, an Impilturian delegation met with
General Skjöldurssonur in Uthmere, in the Great Dale. He too readily consented to the plan to shield the Cold
Lands from the hobgoblins of the Giantspires but also said that once Impiltur had secured Lenchstigur, the
Freemen of the Dale would secure the southern edge of the mountains with a road between Lenchstigur and
Tebbet’s Cairn, a hold west of the cairn and two fortified semaphore towers between Lenchstigur and the cairn.
While these plans described a seemingly strong defense against the hobgoblins, they were extremely difficult to
realize against the overwhelming strength of Tem Redeye’s goblin horde, which included high-level sorcerers,
magi and fighters. But the tale of those difficulties did not begin until the Year of the Shield (1367 DR).
In the Year of the Staff, the seed of additional future wealth for Soravia was sown when a band of retired and
aging rangers from the Bloodstone Riders used their savings from their campaign years to buy a dozen prime
breeding horses from members of the Var tribe of Narfell at Nar-sek Qu’istrade. In current times, the breeding
of prime steeds, all descendants of the stock bought by the rangers, is becoming an important business in the
rangelands north of the Stormhaven Hills and southeast of the Star of Infelice.
Residents of southwestern Vaasa learned in the Year of the Staff that one can get not only trouble but also help
from the Moonsea regions. During the course of the year, help came from Northwatch, a group that originally
was organized to protect civilized areas from human and goblinoid barbarians of the Ride north of the Moonsea.
Northwatch was affiliated with the Knights of the North, the fraternity of veteran defenders of the Citadel of the
Raven before the Zhentarim took it.
Northwatch also was friendly to although not directly affiliated with the Berdusk Harper faction. Beginning in late
Kythorn, riders from Northwatch began riding voluntary patrols on Gramble’s Climb and Garumn’s Climb. Their
work was supported and sponsored by the free trade councils of Thentia, Glister, Highsong and Twilight’s Veil,
the latter of which had won free of its Zhentarim taint.
Riders of Northwatch also were one of many bands that fought briefly intensified attacks by ogre tribesmen of
Thar against caravans in the Grey Land. With caravan traffic into and out of Vaasa increasing and carrying ever
more valuable cargoes, the fighting ability of those guarding the caravans grew as well. As a result, the ogres
and human bandit nomads who worked with them were being pushed ever farther back from the trade routes of
Thar.
1367 DR - Year of the Shield

With internal troubles involving the church of Cyric reaching the boiling point, the presence of the Zhentarim
began to evaporate in Vaasa and Damara. Dalton Krenn, leader of the Iron Throne in Sembian Ordulin, and
Shandaril, head of Throne operations east of the Dragon Reach, were in full agreement that the Throne needed
to step in occupy as many of the vacancies the Black Network had left as possible, and quickly, before
someone else had beaten them to the punch.
Thus, beginning in Mirtul, there was a steady and significant migration of merchants, shipping and warehousing
specialists, thieves, some assassins and a few magi from the Moonsea area, Sembia, locations within the Vast
and Impiltur slowly filtering into Thar and the Bloodstone Kingdom. All were in the pay of the Iron Throne. Their
destinations were Glister, Twilight’s Veil and settlements along Dead Man’s Walk in Vaasa. Although their
numbers were significant, they came but a few at a time and drew little notice. Even the Bloodstone Riders
became vaguely aware of them only after local shifts in power began being noticeable.
The relative peace of recent years was shattered after the spring thaws, largely because of the decision of King
Gareth, Prince Quillan and Duke Olwen to join Impiltur in moving against the hobgoblins of the Giantspires. But
the first troubles were in Sunderland, not in the East. In late Ches, Hillsafar dwarves, expanding a new and
deep shaft farther toward the north under Vaasa, broke into an outer hall of a drow enclave.
The dark elves reacted rapidly, violently and with magic, leading to a two-day battle in the Underdark, with
losses on both sides, before the dwarves succeeded in causing their own shaft to cave in, again sealing their
halls off from the drow domain. The corpses of drow who fell on the dwarven side of the cave-in all bore
symbols of Kiaransalee, black elven goddess of the undead.
When these reports reached Bloodstone Village, the king and his government recognized that the battle reports,
combined with previous news of clashes between goat’s head priests and drow indicated that there probably
was a black elven city of some size beneath the Vaasan Plain. There was considerable but unnecessary
concern that the church of Kiaransalee might have formed some bond with the demon god of the undead,
Orcus, with the intention of bringing him back to life.
Kiaransalee and Orcus were, in fact, mortal enemies. When King Gareth and his band slew the avatar of
Tiamat in the Year of the Serpent (1359 DR) with the Wand of Orcus, they also succeeded in destroying the
physical manifestation of Orcus in the Abyss. However, as Bahamut, the platinum dragon had warned them,
this destruction was only temporary, and Orcus would resume his form again.
Bahamut apparently was unaware that Kiaransalee had lurked upon Orcus' spirit. She had claimed his domain
upon Thanatos in the Abyss and waited there, until Orcus again began to take shape in a much-weakened form,
and she slew him. To prevent his return, the Lady of the Dead dedicated herself and her followers to the
liquidation of all worshippers of Orcus, intending to eventually erase all memories of Orcus in Faerûn.
In the Year of the Wandering Maiden (1337 DR), worshippers of Kiaransalee had reopened an abandoned drow
city named V'elddrinnsshar beneath the Galenas and the Vaasan Plain that once had been dedicated to the
Spider Queen Lolth. There, they built Kiaransalee’s main temple in Faerûn, the Acropolis of Thanatos, which
was given the mission of eliminating all thought of Orcus from the Realms.
These were the followers of the Lady of the Dead who had been hunting down the goat’s head priests in the
Black Holes of Sunderland and whom the Hillsafar dwarves had encountered, although the human and
humanoid rulers of the Bloodstone Kingdom and Impiltur still knew nothing of the temple in the
Underdark. (For more details on Kiaransalee and her temple, see the entry in Demihuman
Deities by Eric L. Boyd, TSR 1998.)
However, the Bloodstone Kingdom and Impiltur were of little interest to Kiaransalee and her
followers. Their first goal had been the goat’s head priests who had survived Zhengyi’s fall.
Most of them had been slain in the tunnels of the Black Holes of Sunderland. Some had fled
into Impiltur and the Vast, but these were being corrupted by the Dark Sun Cyric, and they
would not long preserve the name of Orcus, in the minds of the Yathrinshee and Crones in the Acropolis of
Thanatos.
In the Year of the Shield, they began focusing their attention upon their second, larger goal, the ruins of
Zhengyi’s Castle Perilous. The crones knew that the ruins now were in other hands, but they also knew that the
mercury pool beneath Zhengyi’s castle, which had been intended to gate Orcus into the Realms, remained
intact. They intended to enter the ruins from below and cleanse them of every remaining taint of Orcus.
This was no easy task for the drow. Most of the passages in the Underdark to and from Castle Perilous were in
ruin with frequent cave-ins. Reaper of Souls Larynda Telenna, the high Yathrinshee of the Acropolis, knew
better than to try to enter the ruins from the surface. Not even drow were secure from the eyes of 50 or so
watchful dragons. In the ruins’ subterranean levels, the dragons’ ability to fight would be limited by space,
which would severely restrict their maneuverability. That was the favored terrain of the dark elves.
However, the drow had made little progress to date. The passages were so narrow and unstable that they
allowed only a few dark elves to pass at a time. Those who did make it into the ruins were encountered by
large numbers of fighting lizard-dragon men, some of whom used spells and some of whom exploded when
they died. Each time the drow managed to enter the ruins, the difficult passages made the outnumbered black
elves easy targets for the lizard-dragon men, and the dark elves were forced to retreat with heavy losses.
Attempts to excavate new passages into the ruins or to open new passages met a similar fate. The lizard-
dragon men were able to detect such efforts in some way. They ambushed the drow parties and caused the
excavations to cave in. More of the lizard-dragon men were dying than drow, but Reaper of Souls Telenna was
beginning to think that the supply of lizard-dragon men was inexhaustible.
Although none of their foes were aware of such things, the drow incursions into the ruins of Castle Perilous
were becoming a serious irritation to Sammaster and Kargmelchina atop Suncatcher Mountain as well. It was
their intention to turn the 200,000 orcs, goblins, ogres and giants in the West Galenas and the estimated
150,000 hobgoblins in the Giantspires into Realms draconians, giving them an army of draconians 350,000
strong to invade Damara, Impiltur, the Great Dale, the Vast and parts of the Moonsea region, spearheaded by
some 50 vampire dragons.
After conquering these lands, Sammaster and Kargmelchina planned to create a huge empire of the Dragon
Cult, with the intention of seeking an alliance with the Untheric goddess Tiamat (who at that time had not yet
entered the Faerûnian pantheon). The two wanted to bend the Dragon Cult to Tiamat's worship, gradually
merging the dragon queen's church with the cult.
The tool that they used to create their draconians was a combination of the mercury pool in the ruins of Castle
Perilous, which had been intended to gate Zhengyi into the Realms, ancient dwarven magic found in Grafvitnir's
cave, rare magic Kargmelchina had learned in Thay, and spells of Sammaster's own invention. With their
planned conquest, the two believed they would gain possession of the ancient Narfelli magic in the hands of the
Impilturian kingdom.
They then would turn their forces eastward, conquering Rashemen, where they hoped to gain not only ancient
Raumathari and Imaskari magic but also to learn the secrets of the witches of Rashemen. However, their
progress was not the least bit satisfying to them.
All of their attempts to make draconians of giants had failed. Most of the transmuted giants simply died; others
were turned into bizarre monsters that could not be controlled and had to be slain. The mightiest of their
draconians were troll draconians, but Sammaster and Kargmelchina were unsuccessful in capturing large
numbers of trolls.
Both had discovered that the use of the mercury pools to make large numbers of draconians required more
power than they could command. It was taking longer to build their draconian army than they had expected. To
add to this, instead of being able to concentrate upon making more draconians and keeping their vampire
dragons under control, the two vampire dragon liches were being forced to send their draconians into battle
against burrowing drow, and they were suffering painful losses.
Their hope was that Tiamat would enter the Faerûnian Pantheon and ally herself with them, lending them the
magical strength they needed to build their great army, but Tiamat had been dealt a severe blow by King Gareth
of Bloodstone, when he and his fellowship destroyed one of her avatars in the Outer Planes. Tiamat's recovery
was taking longer than Sammaster and Kargmelchina had expected, and drow were gnawing away at the small
army they already had built, like termites on wood.
In Alturiak, the war with the hobgoblins of the Giantspires began. A large Bloodstone force under the command
of Duke Olwen of Soravia marched upon the ruins of Cutrock. With painful losses on both sides, the duke
finally managed to claim Cutrock shortly before the month's end and pushed the enemy back far enough into
the mountains for dwarven construction crews to begin rebuilding its fortifications.
Later in the year, human and dwarven warriors had cleansed the main shafts of the Cutrock mines of
hobgoblins and had caused the collapse of all connecting shafts between the mines and delve of the
hobgoblins. In Eleint, Soravia could begin putting the mine back into operation, but the price for the victory was
high. It was the year's only success against the hobgoblins.
For Shandaril in Heliogabalus, it was a year of routine but important growth of existing Iron Throne operations
and a watchful but inactive eye upon events taking place about her. Word came to Shandaril of the fighting
going upon between drow and the lizard-dragon men of the ruins of Castle Perilous, but she did not know what
was happening there, and in untypical fashion, she paid virtually no attention to the matter.
Her focus was upon the decision of King Gareth and his allies in Impiltur to move upon the Giantspires and the
hobgoblins that claimed them. Were they to succeed in this venture, Impiltur and the Bloodstone Kingdom
would have claim to a substantial source of gems, jewels, precious metals and other wealth that could make the
Iron Throne a minor player in a league where the two kingdoms were stars. This was a prospect that did not
please Shandaril, where the battles between drow and draconians were more a matter of curiosity to her.
The Damaran Merchants League, which remained heavily influenced by the Iron Throne, continued with its plan
for construction of waytowers in the unsettled areas from Heliogabalus to Swampgate at the western end of
Dead Man's Walk in Vaasa. In the Year of the Shield, two new towers were finished and went into use between
Nigel's Ford and the ruins of Moortown.
Another matter that drew less interest than it perhaps should have stimulated was a series of explosions in
Soravia's sparsely populated Stormhaven Hills. The explosions occurred in the ruin of Mhaernos, a huge
complex in the middle of the hills that appears to have once been both a center of government and a center of
learning.
In Vaasa, representatives of Baron Wingham begin difficult negotiations with Hea-Rem, chieftain of the White
Worm barbarians who lived on the border of his barony and Pelvuria, the Great Glacier. Wingham sought an
agreement under which the Barony of Palishchuk and the barbarian tribe could live in peace with each other.
The talks closed with a verbal treaty in late Eleint, in which both the barony and the Bloodstone Kingdom
acknowledged that the White Worm Plain south of the glacier as well as the barbarians' sacred Ice Run were
the territory of the White Worm tribe. In turn, the barbarians agreed not to enter the Vaasan Plain south of their
domain. Baron Wingham also agreed to post warnings in all settlements of the barony that the northern territory
was the land of the White Worm and that trespassers would be subject to tribal justice.
In the Stormhaven Hills of Soravia, the ruins of Mhaernos caused some excitement. Whom Mhaernos served
always has been a mystery, because there is no historical information anywhere stating what existed in the
lands covered by the pre-glacial Cold Ocean, which also covered Mhaernos at least 6,300 years ago.
Nonetheless, ancient chiseling definitely defines the site as Mhaernos, which seems to prove that there also
was a pre-oceanic period, unless, of course, Mhaernos was an underwater site.
Lady Felice Assumbrar headed into the ruins afterward, to determine what had occurred, but she told the
Twilight Riders she found nothing of meaning there except damage from explosions ands signs of demonic or
devil activity. Although none knew it, the explosions were caused when demons trapped beneath eastern
Soravia detected a weak spot beneath the ruins of Mhaernos in the magic that barred their entry into Faerûn.
Their unsuccessful attempt to overcome that magic caused the explosions.
In the course of the year, the elimination of two goblin clans in the Western Galenas reduced some of the risks
for caravan traffic over Gramble's Climb. Adventurers from Highsong affiliated with the Berdusk faction of the
Harpers joined with mercenaries working for various Moonsea region trading alliances and spent the summer
rooting out the Lungharrower and Devilsfist goblin tribes. By the beginning of Eleint, both clans were believed
to have been largely destroyed, with the few survivors scattered.
A loose but growing collection of farms in Sunderland along the trail between Darmshall and Highsong united
into the small but spread out village of Mistover. Leading citizens won Baron Garumbelly's blessings for
formation of a local government after traders, mercenaries and immigrants had built an inn and other central
facilities in the middle of the farm belt.
The baron agreed to send dwarven workers in the Year of the Banner to build a modest wall around the
hamlet's center, if the settlers would establish a granary and other facilities there to withstand a siege. The
barony agreed to finance construction of the wall.
The Year of the Shield ended with the vampire attacks continuing unabated in northern Damara and Vaasa.
Attempts to find or capture one of the vampires remained unsuccessful.
1368 DR - Year of the Banner

One of the biggest events for the Bloodstone Kingdom in this year occurred far beyond its borders: Cyric's
minions destroyed most of Zhentil Keep. The Moonsea branch of the Zhentarim fell into a temporary state of
chaos and all traces of Zhentish involvement in trade between the Moonsea and the Bloodstone Kingdom
vanished.
Thus, the attention of Shandaril in Heliogabalus once more was diverted from the doings atop Suncatcher
Mountain and in the ruins of Castle Perilous to the more immediate business at hand. Two ships carrying
caravan wagons and draught horses docked in New Sarshel, and the cargo began making its way northward
into Damara immediately.
Wainwrights and horse breeders in Damara received juicy contracts at above average prices to provide
additional wagons and horses. In the names of both the Damaran Merchants League and the Fallen Star
Holding of Impilturian Hlammach, Shandaril intended for the Iron Throne to dominate caravan traffic between
Damara and the Bloodstone Kingdom, using both Dead Man's Walk and Garumn's Climb as well as the
Highsong Trail and Gramble's Climb.
It was time for a fast reaction, and Shandaril reacted as quickly as possible, but Mulmaster played a trump card
too. With the destruction of the bridges in Zhentil Keep, caravan trade from the Bloodstone Kingdom to the
south shore of the Moonsea had become difficult and of reduced profitability.
Two years earlier, Mulmaster had begun cutting a trail through the mountains southeast of the Moonsea and
north of Maskyr's Eye to the White River, detouring around the dangers of Ironfang Keep. In the Year of the
Shield (1367 DR), the Mulman crews bridged the White River, despite huge difficulties.
In the new Year of the Banner, Mulmaster mustered a large work crew and a substantial military force to open a
trail through a craggy natural pass south of the Snow Wood, connecting with the Beaumaris Trail in the Duchy
of Arcata. Duke Tarun welcomed the Mulman action, because it gave new importance to the isolated Arcatan
ducal seat of Valls and the settlement of Ostrav.
With the Mulman caravan trail being opened in autumn, it appeared likely that Valls and Ostrav would develop
into bustling trade towns that would be the gateway for caravans bringing wares from the Bloodstone Kingdom
by land to the south shore of the Moonsea, the Dalelands and Sembia.
The Throne formed a new trading front in Ordulin that it called the Ordulin & Yhaunn Marine Coster, an
organization that immediately purchased several river cargo boats from other mercantile groups and assigned
these to the new front operation. Dalton Krenn sent important Throne operatives working as representatives of
Ordulin & Yhaunn and the Fallen Star Trading Coster to Mulmaster to begin negotiating.
The result was a contract under which Mulmaster gave both Ordulin & Yhaunn and Fallen Star Trading the right
to use the new trail from Arcata to Mulmaster over what was called Mulman Pass, and in return, the two Iron
Throne front costers agreed to build a road from the east bank of the mouth of the River Lis to Mulmaster and a
fortified harbor on the east bank of the Lis, which Mulmaster could use.
The combined work of Mulmaster and the Iron Throne substantially reduced the difficulties of transporting goods
between the Dalelands and Sembia in the West and the Bloodstone Kingdom in the East. Only Impiltur took a
somewhat dim view of this new development, which doubtlessly would cost Hlammach some of the sea trade it
had between East and West.
By the end of the Year of the Banner, both Dalton Krenn and Shandaril were convinced that the Iron Throne had
gained a monopoly on trade between the Bloodstone Kingdom and markets in the Moonsea region, the
Dalelands and Sembia. Neither thought the Zhentarim, after its eventual recovery in Zhentil Keep, would be
able to regain the trade it had lost. Of course, neither was aware that the still-to-be-reshaped Zhentarim would
not attempt to do so but rather use other means to gain its cut of trade.
More events than the temporary collapse of the Zhentarim occurred in the Year of the Banner. While the fall of
Zhentil Keep was the event Damarans and Vaasans enjoyed talking about most, the disastrous attempts to
combat the hobgoblins of the Giantspires were equally significant.
A year earlier Duke Olwen, at a high blood price, had succeeded in taking Cutrock and reopening the mines
there. After a few months of attacks in late autumn and early winter that led mostly to hobgoblin losses, Tem
Redeye left the Damarans in Cutrock in relative peace. While they were busy mining precious metals and
gemstones, the ruler of the Acragash Khanate planned other moves on the craggy chessboard of the
Giantspires and environs.
In Flamerule, the hobgoblin khan sent 2,000 of his warriors down a narrow pass in the Giantspires and through
the Goblin Wood, toward Steppenhall. Soravia and Polten were able to react quickly enough to send the
invaders into a reluctant retreat before they could get beyond Steppenhall, but both sides suffered bloody
losses, the frontier thorp burned to the ground, farms between the Goblin Wood and Steppenhall lay in ruin, and
the Bloodstone Kingdom warriors got another bitter taste of hobgoblin sorcery.
In the balance after the Battle of Steppenhall, 400 hobgoblins, 110 militiamen from Soravia and Polten, more
than 30 residents of Steppenhall and 70 members of farming families east of Steppenhall were slain. After the
battle, King Gareth sent 500 highly trained soldiers to guard the ruins along with crews
In the aftermath of the battle, which proved to be the first in the Khanate War, as it came to be called, Impiltur
speeded up its plans for securing the Giantspires. A large military detachment and construction crews traveled
over Lenchford and Tellerth to the foot of the mountains between Rawlinswood and the Goblin Wood with the
intention of building Fort Imphras I, but the efforts became bogged down in a long series of battles between
Impiltur's warriors und units of the hobgoblin khan who poured down from the mountains.
Sporadic combat continued into late Eleasias, when magi of the Wand of Impiltur succeeded in magically
destroying all of the mountain passes in the area that gave the hobgoblins access to the construction site, but it
was too late then to start building. The Impilturians, who had planned to spend the winter in a provisional camp
at the construction site, marched instead back to Ilmwatch for the cold months, intent upon returning in spring.
In Vaasan Mistover, settlers paid for the construction of a central granary and the boring of deep wells to serve
in times of siege, and Hillsafar dwarves, working for the Barony of Sunderland, built a 20-foot/6 m high stone
wall a yard/meter thick around the hamlet's center.
With the increased usage of the southern route into the Moonsea region over Gramble's Climb and the
concentrated moves to secure trade operations that previously had been in Zhentarim hands, the Damaran
Merchants League made no new progress in its construction of Vaasan waytowers. Instead, the league
postponed construction of the last two towers on Dead Man's Walk until the Year of the Gauntlet (1369 DR).
In Mirtul a large crew of mercenaries and workers from Melvaunt began opening a new bloodstone mine in the
southernmost tip of Vaasa, directly beneath Suncatcher Mountain. By Eleint, a mining settlement had
developed beneath the main shaft that was named Thornleigh. When the Damaran Merchants League received
word of the newly opened mines, its representatives traveled to Thornleigh and negotiated a contract for the first
option on all bloodstone taken from the mine.
The Year of the Banner, like those that preceded it, ended again with the vampire attacks continuing unabated
in northern Damara and Vaasa. Attempts to find or capture one of the vampires remained unsuccessful.
However, with other problems commanding attention and in view of the fact that no one had died from such an
attack or has been turned into a vampire to date, efforts to get to the source of these attacks have slackened
off.
1369 DR - Year of the Gauntlet

Atop Suncatcher Mountain, Sammaster and Kargmelchina continued to be foiled in their plans to quickly build a
large army of draconians. The two vampire dragon liches simply could not muster the magical power necessary
to produce draconians en masse. For them, it became critical to bring to Tiamat followers enough to gain her
admittance into the Faerûnian pantheon with the hope that the goddess then would lend them the magical
strength they needed to build a host that would conquer in her name and avenge her.
Both continued to view the Cult of Dragons as the tool they could wield to gain their end, but the cult was
becoming ever more divided between those who wanted the organization to remain free of all religious ties and
those who, like Sammaster and Kargmelchina, wished to bring the cult and the Tiamatist church together.
All of their vampire dragons and draconians were under the command of the epic red vampire dragon Knellict,
who earlier had served Zhengyi, the Grandfather of Assassins and then himself while still a mortal human.
Sammaster and Kargmelchina knew who the key leaders of the anti-Tiamatist faction of the Dragon Cult were
and where they were to be found. Knellict was given orders to send out squads of draconians under the
command of lower level vampire dragons to hunt down and slay the leading opponents of the Dragon Queen
within the cult, with the goal of eventually consolidating the organization into the base of supporting worshippers
that Tiamat need to gain a footing as a lesser power in the Faerûnian pantheon.
However, Sammaster and Kargmelchina still did not have the base of power they needed to take on the rest of
the world. Therefore, Knellict was told to have his minions travel over back ways and hidden trails, moving
mainly by night, to avoid being seen as much as possible. The vampire dragons who commanded the
draconian squads were allowed to take only their human and hybrid forms, to keep their nature secret.
The vampire dragons also were ordered to abandon the draconians and teleport back to the ruins of Castle
Perilous at any time their own existence was threatened. Sammaster and Kargmelchina did not want magi and
priests of current or future foes to be able to perform research on the rotting carcasses of destroyed vampire
dragons.
Despite their orders, the squads of draconians were seen at times, as they spread out from Vaasa westward
and southward. Realms draconians were heretofore unknown in Faerûn outside of the Cold Lands, although
some had been seen in Vaasa, where none knew their nature. The Bloodstone Kingdom too had become
aware that undead dragons existed after the destruction of disobedient vampire dragon Tornus Blitsen during
the battle at Hillsafar Hall in the Year of the Sword (1365 DR), but news of Blitsen's undead nature had been
shared only with the leaders of Impiltur and was not known elsewhere.
In mid-Tarsakh, carrying out his orders, Knellict send 22 vampire dragons out into the world with draconian
squads assigned to slay Dragon Cult leaders. Within a year's time, sightings of the so-called lizard-dragon men
led by strange, black men with dragon wings would be reported as far from Vaasa as the distant nation of
Luruar in the Northwest and the Sword Coast as well as throughout the Vilhon Reach in the south.
The most encounters appeared at first to be in Sembia, where several cultists and nearly 40 draconians had
been slain. The mysterious manner in which the lizard-dragon men died became a topic of tavern tales and
bardic song in short order: Corpses turned to stone, trapping weapons. Others became acid puddles. Some
exploded. And some became doubles of the creatures who had slain them. But just what these monsters were
and whence they came remained unknown. Only their purpose could be fathomed; they were out to slay
Dragon Cultists.
The matter was less of a riddle to the anti-Tiamatist cult faction's warrior lord and leader in Sembia, Naergoth
Bladelord, in Saerloon. With the help of his Archmage of the Purple, Zannaster in Urmlaspyr, Bladelord learned
that the lizard-dragon-men and their black, winged leaders had come from Vaasa and were sent to slay for the
Tiamatists.
NOTE: Bladelord and Zannaster are official NPCs of the Cult of the Dragon.
They are described in the accessory Cult of the Dragon by Dale Donovan (TSR -
1998), which is available as a free PDF-download from the Wizards of the Coast
website. The download address is:
In Kythorn, a small Sembian ship cleared customs at Ilmwatch in Impiltur. The ship carried more than 100
engineers, workers and mercenaries who claimed to be under way to research the Earthspurs in the area of
Lake Icemelt, seeking rumored veins of rich Bloodstone. The prospecting party was granted a royal permit after
several days and was allowed to travel over Northford to Dunfee and then on to explore the lake area.
The Sembians reached Dunfee in late Flamerule and vanished then on the difficult trails up into the mountains.
Impilturian authorities heard no further word from them. The group was, in fact, an elite band assembled under
Bladelord’s orders, with the mission of rooting out and destroying the source of the draconian squads.
The Sembian group was sighted at times in late summer on the Vaasan side of the East Galenas by rangers of
the Bloodstone Riders southeast of and above Hillsafar Hall, but efforts to track the invaders failed. It appeared
that the band, although more than 100 in number, was capable of using powerful magic to conceal itself. There
was no exchange of news in this case with Impiltur, thus, neither of the two kingdoms was aware that the
Sembian group that had vanished past Dunfee now was operating in the Vaasan Galenas.
In the east, both the Bloodstone Kingdom and Impiltur concentrated upon the Giantspires again. In Tarsakh, an
Impilturian host of 1,000 soldiers and magi and 200 construction workers returned to the foot of the mountains
where they had secured a construction site the previous fall, only to find that the khanate had reopened a
blasted pass and was waiting for the host combat ready.
The Impilturians were better equipped than the hobgoblins. They defeated them after a two-day battle, but
there was a delay of several more days before the magi of the Wand of Impiltur could succeed in sealing the
hobgoblins' passages again. At last, however, construction of Fort Imphras I began.
The Bloodstone and Impilturian commanders met in Tarsakh to discuss the situation and quickly concluded that
the stretch between the Goblin Wood and the Giantspires from Cutrock to Fort Imphras I needed to be secured
as quickly as possible. The Soravian commander agreed to provide the fighting men and construction crews,
diverting them from a waytower project planed northeast of Cutrock, and the Impilturian commander assigned
several magi of the Wand to help the Soravian unit.
By mid-Flamerule, the hobgoblin passes between the Impilturian construction site and Cutrock had been
destroyed and a Soravian waytower stood at the halfway point, at the northeastern tip of the Goblin Wood,
manned by 200 Soravian soldiers. The waytower, which became known as the Goblin Tower, became an
important meeting point for the Bloodstone and Impilturian armies, where news could be exchanged and joint
strategies could be planned.
The Harpers in Stormstar and Lady Felice were concerned about the turn events had taken. Signs of demon
activity in Eastern Soravia and the hobgoblin threat in the Stormhaven Hills were the main reasons they had
settled in Soravia. In principle, they were supportive of the federalist kingdom King Gareth had built, because it
maintained a decentralized authority locally responsive to Damarans in the places they lived.
The Harpers did not underestimate the threat of the hobgoblins, but they were concerned nonetheless over the
stationing of large numbers of Impilturian troops on the borders of Damara and the Great Dale. The threat of
hobgoblin attacks was being met in their eyes by the threat of Impilturian imperialism, which all too quickly could
lead to the founding of a powerful and tyrannical Impilturian empire.
The old Narfelli Empire too had been built upon good intentions but had turned utterly evil. Impiltur and the
Great Dale were the main heirs of old Narfell, and Impiltur was the key heir of surviving Narfelli magic. The
Harpers would not have been surprised if some Impilturian magi already had been tainted by their knowledge of
Narfelli secrets.
Lady Felice also was afraid that the joint Bloodstone and Impilturian strategy might provoke the hobgoblin
Acragash Khanate into starting an all-out war with Soravia rather than merely containing the hobgoblins.
Still, there was little that she or the Harpers could do at that time about the situation. Damara still was regaining
its strength in its post-Zhengyi years, and for better or worse, King Gareth had claimed Vaasa as well. He did
not have the resources he would need to combat a massive mobilization by Tem Redeye, nor could the Harpers
lend those resources to him. Only Impiltur had the strength necessary to stop the Khanate.
The fears of provoking hobgoblin attacks were realized soon enough, and on the home grounds of the Harpers
as well. Both Duke Olwen and the Impilturian command believed the main priority was the closure of the
northwestern wall of the Giantspires to the hobgoblins.
They saw little danger to the barbarian plains of modern Narfell, because there was nothing there for the
hobgoblins, and their worries about the mountains' southwestern wall remained in bounds too, because they
knew that a hobgoblin invasion from that direction would have to deal first with the mysterious Nentyarch of
Rawlinswood.
King Gareth and other Damarans knew nothing more than stories about the Nentyarch, but the Impilturians
feared him. Although they had little knowledge of the Nentyarch that could link him directly with evil, the Sword
and Wand of Impiltur had no idea what the Nentyarch's goals and purposes were, but it was clear that he was in
possession of magic of the highest power, probably Narfelli in origin, and that he was ready and willing to use it.
The Nentyarch had committed no acts of aggression against his neighbors, but he had claimed a large part of
Rawlinswood as his own. He used a strange combination of green elves and hobgoblins to protect it. And few
intruders who had entered his domain ever had returned from it again.
NOTE: The Nentyarch is fully described in the Northern

Journey Campaign Guide Version 8. His domain is
described in The Great Dale, Part 6 of Northern Journey.
This version of the Nentyarch is based upon Dr. Jeffrey
David Bray's unofficial realization of this official NPC. Both
accessories can be downloaded free at:
In a strategy meeting in early Flamerule, the Bloodstone and Impilturian commanders agreed that the most
sensible strategy for protecting Soravia north of the Giantspires was to reconquer the long abandoned Howser's
Trail and the wall of the mountains northwest of the trail. This strategy also would have given Soravia access to
the long-closed Howser's Mine, which was reputed to be a rich source of precious metals and gemstones.
Duke Olwen used his Bloodstone Talisman to communicate the plan with King Gareth, and the king agreed,
allowing the duke to move 1,500 soldiers to Cutrock and agreeing to replace them with 1,000 men from other
outposts. Impiltur again contributed wizards to the campaign.
In early Eleasias, the combined host, more than 1,000 strong, reopened the mouth of Howser's Trail, which the
magi had destroyed earlier, and began the dangerous ascent up into the Giantspires. In early Eleint, after
progressing all of 12 miles/20 km, the Soravians, still 700 strong, retreated back down to Cutrock, having won
and held nothing after nearly a month of daily battles.
When the demoralized Soravian warriors returned to their base, they learned that while they were bogged down
fighting fruitlessly for Howser's Trail, Khan Tem Redeye had decided to teach Soravia a lesson. He sent a unit
of 1,000 hobgoblin warriors down the northern pass leading from Howser's Mine and around the eastern end of
the Stormhavens, to attack Mosstone Tower and Stormstar.
The Harpers had to hold out for nearly two days before Soravian troops began arriving. That the attackers
eventually had to retreat, leaving more than half of their number behind dead, was due largely to the powerful
magic of the epic wizardess Lady Felice as well as the spells of other Harper magi in Stormstar.
Nonetheless, about 60% of the thorp had been reduced to ruins and more than 20 people had died there. As
Lady Felice had predicted, the joint Soravian-Impilturian expedition had provoked the khanate to make a
counterattack of its own, and her tower and her fellow Harpers in Stormstar were the victims they chose.
Impiltur had planned to celebrate the official opening of Fort Imphras I at that time, but with 30% losses being
reported from the expeditionary force and some 20 dead in Stormstar, the outpost was opened without
ceremony or other fanfare.
Some members of the Howser's Trail expedition consoled themselves with the thought that the hobgoblins were
believed to have lost twice as many warriors as the Bloodstone force, but others wondered just what their goal
was. After all, there were supposed to be another 200,000 or so hobgoblins still in the Giantspires, and to date,
the Cutrock troops hadn't even made a dent in their ranks.
When winter set in, there not only were conversations between the Soravian and Impilturian commanders on
the front but also magical meetings of the minds with the help of the Bloodstone Talismans between King
Gareth, Prince Quillan, Duke Olwen and Baron Donlevy on the Bloodstone side and with Regent War Captain
Kyrlraun and Archwand Daerthnur in Impiltur over the hobgoblin problem.
Only after hearing the reports of the Howser's Trail expedition could the Bloodstone and Impilturian strategists
understand at last how difficult a war against the khanate would be. The hobgoblins not only terribly
outnumbered their own forces, but the khanate's warriors were well trained, disciplined and respectably armed
and their war sorcerers commanded spells that had inflicted heavy damages.
The Giantspires were extraordinarily unfriendly terrain for an invading host that was unfamiliar with it. The
hobgoblins were at home there and knew every rock outcropping and trail well. They could stage a new
ambush every mile or so, as they had done with the troops who had intended to take Howser's Trail from them.
To conquer the Giantspires, Kyrlraun and Gareth concluded, both the Bloodstone and Impilturian kingdoms
would have to concentrate their full military might upon that goal.
Neither kingdom could afford to leave the rest of its lands unguarded. That notwithstanding, even if both
kingdoms did commit their armies to conquering the Giantspires, the two hosts would return home victorious but
severely reduced in number, an open invitation to foes to march in.
At last, the strategists of both lands agreed that Howser's Trail was a path too high for the present. The only
hope the two kingdoms had to defend themselves against the khanate was to contain it, perhaps until some
future date when they commanded a greater magical and military strength that would give them better chances
in the hobgoblins' own craggy and treacherous domain.
The winter peace and his victories brought no rest to Tem Redeye. The attention that the Bloodstone Kingdom
and Impiltur were paying to his khanate bode ill for his empire. He was not worried that his tribes would be
conquered. He did not think that Bloodstone Village and Lyrabar would muster the strength it needed and incur
the losses that would be necessary to defeat him.
But it was clear to the khan that the foe would not repeat the mistake of fighting him on his own terrain again.
Instead, he was certain, the two kingdoms would attempt to seal him and his hobgoblins into the mountains, and
he thought they could do that at a price they would be willing to pay.
It was extremely difficult, he knew, to meet his host on its own rocky terrain, but it was difficult for the hobgoblins
to simply pour out of the mountains to attack the Damarans below. Decent descending trails and passes were
necessary to ride down the mountain to mount an invasion, and the Impilturian wizards had shown that they
were capable of destroying such passes.
Were his host to attempt to simply descend the mountain without trails regardless of the dangers, enemy
archers would pick them off like flies before they could launch an attack of their own. In addition, he suspected
some Impilturian wizards would be at hand who could blast away strategic points on the mountainsides, causing
landslides which could claim the lives of hundreds of hobgoblins with a single spell.
The khan had human prisoners from the opposing army tortured, but they could give him no information over
strategy. They knew only of the plans to attempt to conquer Howser's Trail, which Redeye suspected had been
abandoned. Only one bit of valuable information had been learned. The Narfelli barbarians to the east had
approved the foe's actions against the khan. That was an item he could and would deal with in the coming year.
While the Bloodstone Kingdom and Impiltur focused their attention on the Khanate War, Shandaril and the rest
of the Iron Throne took advantage of their inattention to sink the Throne's roots even deeper into the daily
commerce of the two kingdoms. Nonetheless, Shandaril also kept a close eye on the Khanate War. On the
one hand, a victory on Howser's Trail could reopen a legendary mine that might prove lucrative to the Throne.
On the other, failures could lead to protracted wars and hobgoblin invasions, which would be bad for business.
In the Year of the Gauntlet, the Damaran Merchants League finished its last two waytowers on Dead Man's
Walk. The towers went up near the ruins of Moortown and halfway between there and Swampgate. After that,
the league contemplated building similar towers on the two roads heading westward from Darmshall to
Southgate, one over Mistover and Highsong and the other over Thornleigh.
The last event of the year occurred in the remote and snowbound Arcatan village of Tomrav in early Nightal. At
that time of year, Tomrav had no contact with Valls or other Damaran settlements, therefore, Duke Tarun
learned of it only in Kythorn after the first merchants from the Earthspurs reached the Arcatan ducal seat.
As Tomrav went into the year’s shortest days, a party of 12 led by two priests of Orcus wearing the goat's head
emerged upon the settlement. Underestimating the defense abilities of the miners and above all of the reclusive
archmage Geberon, one of the goat's head priests announced that Tomrav would be turned into a new center of
the worship of Orcus and that all villagers would join the faith or be slain.
In the battle that followed, both goat's head priests were killed, as well as six of their followers. The other four
managed to escape. The defenders noted that the two Orcus priests were Mulan in appearance, suggesting
that they might have been from Thay, Mulhorand or Unther. Disturbing to all was the fact that both priests used
spells before dying, raising the question of whether Orcus had returned.
Other significant events for the Cold Lands also were in motion in the distant West, but they drew little notice at
this time in the Bloodstone and Impilturian kingdoms. Iyachtu Xvim had risen as a lesser power in Zhentil Keep.
Fzoul Chembryl, who had served the dead god Bane and then reluctantly Cyric, became the Godson's own
High Tyrannar in the Heart of the Hand Temple beneath the ruins of Zhentil Keep.
Early in the year, Chembryl had presented his plans for a reorganized Zhentarim to Manshoon, who accepted it
over the objections of Sememmon in Darkhold. Much of the foundation of the Black Network's trade system
had crumbled after the Time of Troubles, and Chembryl argued that it would be costly and most likely
unprofitable to rebuild the old Zhentarim organization.
Instead, he proposed a much more compact and even more clandestine version of the Black Network, one that
would leave the caravan trade to others, particularly the Iron Throne. The new Zhentarim, according to
Chembryl's plans, would:
• Increase its infiltration and manipulation of the Iron Throne and other organizations and skim profits from
them.
• Use elite Zhentarim to run extortion operations against the Iron Throne and other trade organizations.
• Attempt to gain a monopoly in the business of assassination.
The latter element was particularly important to Chembryl. He and Xvim were archenemies of Cyric. Before the
Time of Troubles, assassins and assassin guilds had been the province of the church of Bhaal, who had been
destroyed along with Bane and Myrkul. The life force had been drawn from Bhaal's assassins during the Time
of Troubles, slaying most of them.
Although Cyric had inherited Bhaal's portfolio of murder, he had devoted little attention to assassins and
assassinations, focusing on other matters in his insane chaos. In the Year of the Gauntlet, the Xvimist church
began its efforts to begin taking portfolios away from Cyric and moving them to Xvim. Because the Cyricist
church had done little with the murder portfolio, Chembryl chose this as his target. He and his Xvimist church
focused strongly then upon training their notorious new Xvimist assassin monks (for details, see the Northern
Journey Campaign Guide) and establishing them as the primary assassins of Faerûn.
Manshoon accepted Chembryl's demand that the church of Xvim become the church of the Black Network and
that Cyricists be driven from the organization. Sememmon, who had formed close alliances with the Cyricists in
the Backlands of the Sword Coast, was strongly opposed to the Cyricist purge but was forced by Manshoon and
Chembryl to accept it and implement it. Cyricists also had become the main training targets of Chembryl's
assassin monks.
Among the main areas Chembryl had targeted for Xvimist development were the Vast and the Bloodstone and
Impilturian kingdoms. Cyric's church had no foothold whatsoever in Impiltur, Damara or Vaasa, sparing them
some of the conflict known elsewhere. But Shandaril's entire Iron Throne region came within the circle of
Chembryl's magnifying glass, although the epic wizardess remained oblivious to that fact in Heliogabalus and
Chembryl, likewise, was unaware of her.
In the Vast, which also was a part of Shandaril’s domain, the new Zhentarim already were busy sinking their
secret tentacles into her Throne operations. The fact that Hagurd, who with Dalton Krenn and Shandaril formed
the leading triumvirate of the Throne, was a loyal Zhentarim follower of Chembryl and double agent, made the
Black Network's work easier.
Religious conflict also broke out in Sembia and the Vast. Cyric attempted to defend his murder portfolio with the
benevolently murderous Angels of Ilmater, who received their spells from him. But the Angels were slowly
liquidated before they could succeed in crossing the Earthfasts into Impiltur and the Bloodstone Kingdom.
The Year of the Gauntlet ended with Impiltur, the Bloodstone Kingdom and the Iron Throne all blissfully
unaware of the quiet but dark Zhentarim cloud drifting in their direction. It would not start being a factor in the
Cold Lands until the new Year of the Tankard.
Only one significant new settlement took roots in the kingdom in the Year of the Gauntlet. Mulman Pass had
intersected at the bridge over the Beaumaris River in Arcata on the road connecting Valls with Ostrav. The
chance to earn money from tired caravans arriving in Damara from the Moonsea area did not elude Damaran
merchants for long. By mid-summer, the settlement of Winkeye straddled both sides of the river and the bridge,
and it grew quickly. To the south, in Carmathan between Valls and Ravensburg, the village of Woodhill also
began taking shape.
Once again, the old year ended with the vampire attacks still continuing unabated in northern Damara and
Vaasa. They were becoming almost a matter of routine, a fact that was beginning to trouble the clerics of
Ilmater and some other deities.
1370 DR - Year of the Tankard

With the exception of the Khanate War, most residents of the Bloodstone Kingdom viewed the Year of the
Tankard as being a season of disrupted peacefulness. Nonetheless, those close to the monarch in Bloodstone
Village noted that King Gareth's depressions had reached a new low. He seemed constantly strained and duty
bound but showed no enthusiasm for his place on the throne.
The matter became only worse when the burgomaster of Heliogabalus, his old friend Rulmgar, visited the king
in Tarsakh to tender his resignation. The Impilturian Royal Minister of Finance Soarlbrar had died in his mid-
70s. Queen Sambryl, over the objections of many of the paladin Lords of Imphras II, had asked Rulmgar to
return home to Hlammach to become her new minister.
The queen was concerned about the growing amount of corruption being noticed in Impilturian trade
organizations. She wanted a tough finance minister whose agents could get to the bottom of what was going on
and bring the wrongdoers to justice.
Rulmgar had won such a reputation in Heliogabalus, and the queen said his homeland needed his services.
Several of her paladins, however, were dubious of Rulmgar's reputation for sometimes viewing the end as
justifying the means.
King Gareth accepted Rulmgar's resignation with great reluctance. Rulmgar had not succeeded in finding those
at the upper echelons of the Iron Throne in the Bloodstone Kingdom, but his Crooked Key of Heliogabalus had
kept a tight rein on the Throne's illicit activities and brought several minor crooked merchants and officials to
justice.
The fact that the Throne and other external, shady organizations had such strong hands on the kingdom's
rudder was the cause for the king's despondency. With Rulmgar's departure King Gareth thought the land
would slip even farther from his hands. However, he followed Rulmgar's recommendation and appointed the
burgomaster's first deputy, the most accomplished of the surviving former thieves of Tightpurse, Gillan Dendy,
as new burgomaster of Heliogabalus.
Shandaril and Titus Traud had no cause to breathe easier after learning of Rulmgar's resignation. His Crooked
Key of Heliogabalus would remain intact, and Rulmgar would become a threat to Throne operations in Impiltur
as well. They also took little joy in the appointment of Dendy as his successor. Dendy had been Rulmgar's key
to winning the services and loyalty of former Tightpurse members, and the two Throne leaders doubted he
would be much less effective than Rulmgar had been.
Nonetheless, Rulmgar's departure was the straw that broke the camel's back for the ailing king. After being
counseled to do so by his wife, the druidess queen Lady Christine, as well as Prince Quillan, Duke Riordan and
Baron Celedon, the monarch announced in early Mirtul that he would make a retreat as a paladin of Ilmater to
the Monastery of the Yellow Rose. In his absence, he appointed Prince Quillan to rule as his regent.
Before his departure, the monarch called a meeting of the provincial council of princes, dukes, barons and the
burgomaster of Heliogabalus to explain his decision. King Gareth said he had lost sight of his own once clear
path, built upon his ideals as a paladin, and that he had become considerably confused by failures,
compromises and less than ideal decisions he was forced to make for political reasons to bind the kingdom
together.
During his absence, the king said he would meditate and seek the guidance of Ilmater and his priests and
monks, in the hope that his true path once more would be made clear to him. Should he fail in this goal, Gareth
said, he would abdicate upon his return and ask the council to choose one who would be better fit to be king.
In Flamerule, surprised members of the Bloodstone Riders brought an equally surprised Regent Prince Quillan
the news that King Gareth had been seen riding the remorhaz with Monks of St. Sollars on the Glacier of the
White Worm. The prince decided to keep this news to himself.
In early Eleasias, a royal Impilturian delegation met secretly with Myrddin Viligoth in the Cave of the Whispering
Wind and gave him much news of the absent King Gareth. The delegates said that the king had spent but two
rides in the monastery of the Yellow Rose before riding southward in full armor on a shining, nearly luminous
horse of magical qualities with sword and lance at his side, identifying himself only as Parzival the Persevering.
The disguised king, according to the delegates, rode over Tomrav and Sudrav in southern Arcata to Dunfee and
then down into Impiltur, where he met with two of the Lords of Imphras II, his old friend Haelimbrar and Kyrlraun
in Laviguer, where Kyrlraun was visiting. Afterward, Parzival the Persevering rode through the gate of
Haelimbrar's Wall and headed toward the Vast. Again, Prince Quillan and the Bloodstone Riders kept this news
to themselves.
The next report came a mere two rides later, when the delegates informed Viligoth that Parzival the Persevering
apparently had been traveling magically. He has been seen recently in Waterdeep, where he had met with
Piergeiron Paladinson and the epic Harper wizard Khelben Blackstaff Arunsun. Later, he had met with Lord
Nasher in Neverwinter and Lady Alustriel in Silverymoon. The Bloodstone Riders and Prince Quillan also kept
this information to themselves.
Early in Nightal, the delegates delivered their last report of the king to Viligoth, telling him that Parzival the
Persevering had met with Lord Mourngrym and the sage Elminster in Shadowdale, and also had traveled
southward to confer with the aged King Azoun IV of Cormyr. King Gareth, they assured Viligoth, now was on
his way home, and traveling with him was a company of paladins, knights, priests and magi from the West who
had decided to cast their lot with King Gareth and the Bloodstone Kingdom.
This news was both welcome and disconcerting to Prince Quillan and Viligoth, because King Gareth already
was overdue. He had said he would return in early Uktar. It now was unlikely he would be back before Tarsakh
in the coming Year of the Unstrung Harp (1371 DR).
They were acutely aware that Gareth had won his throne as much by default as by choice. They knew that
other voices seeking power might begin agitating for a new king, if the monarch failed to return before the year's
end. In the last ride before the turn of the year, some areas of the kingdom were abuzz with rumors, above all
the city of Heliogabalus.
The year was drawing to a close, and there still had been no sign of King Gareth. Shandaril had learned
through the Throne that King Gareth had been traveling in the West, but she too had kept this information to
herself. She had begun making plans for the event that the king would not return, giving her a seeming
advantage over those who knew nothing of the king's adventures.
It occurred to her that he probably could not return now until Tarsakh of the new year, and that would give her
and her Throne operatives three months time to turn Sir Gareth Dragonsbane into an unseated king. She did
not rate her chances of success as being overwhelming, but she thought they were high enough to make an
attempt worthwhile.
Regent Prince Quillan suspected such a plot would be set into motion. Using the Bloodstone Talismans,
Quillan called a magical provincial council in late Nightal to pass on the news he had obtained of the absent
king and to urge Prince Murnaros and the dukes, barons and burgomaster of Heliogabalus to do all possible to
hold the kingdom together until the king returned.
These things, however, are the tale of the year's end. Other events were inscribed into the history of the
Bloodstone Kingdom for the Year of the Tankard before they came to pass. A year earlier, the Bloodstone and
Impilturian kingdoms already had become involved in a fruitless war against the hobgoblins of the Giantspires.
Before Ches had ended, both hosts, double the size of a year earlier, and their construction crews were forging
forward.
In the previous year, only the stretch between Cutrock and Fort Imphras I with a waytower midway had been
secured. Magi of the Wand of Impiltur had destroyed all of the passes the hobgoblins could use to pour quickly
down the mountains into that area.
Archwand Daerthnur of Ilmwatch sent additional magi northward in Ches to speed the process. By the
beginning of Tarsakh, both the Impilturian and Bloodstone forces were moving forward in the attempts to seal
the Giantspires. Impiltur concentrated on the southern wall along the eaves of Rawlinswood between Fort
Imphras I and the ruins of Lenchstigur. The Soravian units marched to the northeast, along the mountains'
north wall toward to the pass up to Howser's Mine.
Both armies had to fight their way forward, but the Soravian forces met much stronger resistance than the
Impilturians. Like most hobgoblin chieftains since their tribes' defeat by Imphras I, Tem Redeye had visions of
one day overrunning Impiltur, but it was a distant dream, as it had been with his predecessors.
The gnome delve beneath Rawlinswood northwest of the Lench, which the hobgoblins had used nearly 400
years ago, had degenerated into a labyrinth of dangerous passages, many of them dead ended, due to ongoing
cave-ins. The delve could not be used again to move an army thousands strong. If the khan decided to invade
Impiltur, he would have to march through Rawlinswood. Impiltur would have advance warning and be waiting
for him.
Soravia was a different matter. Although the hobgoblins had done little in the past to claim it, they viewed the
mostly unsettled Soravian plain beneath the mountains as the frontier where they one day could expand their
empire. Before Zhengyi's time, there had been few human settlers in the part of Soravia southeast of the
Icelace, but since the Witch King's fall, more and more settlers were establishing themselves on the land the
hobgoblins viewed as being their own.
Redeye's handicap was that his tribes were divided and scattered throughout the Giantspires. He could not
simply issue an order for 100,000 hobgoblins to march somewhere. There were few tribal chieftains who were
prepared to refuse Redeye's orders, but they knew how to take their time in carrying them out. It also took time
to get the word out to many of the tribes. Redeye had nothing like the Bloodstone Talismans to communicate
with his chieftains. He had to use runners.
The khan did, in fact, issue an order that all tribes' warriors not already engaged in fighting humans were to
assemble in late Kythorn, but only a portion of the host had arrived by then. Many chieftains had little interest in
fighting the khan's war. They were more interested in their own looting expeditions. When they received word
that runner's were under way with the khan's call to war, they saw to it that the runners were ambushed before
they could bring Redeye's command. The khan's planned mobilization became bogged down.
This did not ease the situation for the Soravians, however. The hobgoblin units that had been sent to stop them
were sizeable and able, and the fighting was bloody, with losses on both sides. Nonetheless, the end of Eleint,
the Soravians had built two of four planned waytowers. The third and fourth would be more difficult. The fourth
tower was to be at the foot of the pass to Howser's Mine above.
The mine had become a large hobgoblin military outpost, and the warriors there were determined to keep the
magi below from sealing their key pass into Soravia. When winter set in, both sides retreated before the cold
and snow, but the Soravians knew the coming spring would bring critical battles again.
When winter at last arrived, the Impilturians, who had less trouble with the hobgoblins, had outpaced the
Soravians. Both Impilturian waytowers southeast of Fort Imphras I were completed and construction of Fort
Imphras II across from the Lenchstigur ruins had begun. A provisional outpost had been set up at the
construction site, to defend it during the cold months.
The darker corners of the Cold Lands became aware of the growing but covert presence of the Zhentarim,
although few knew that the Black Network was behind that presence. It simply became known in the right
circles that new players had arrived in Impiltur and Damara, figures ready and able to carry out contract murders
and to do similar work for the right pay.
In Heliogabalus, Gatehold, Bloodstone Village, Ilmwatch and Hlammach a new business opened in Mirtul
named the Moonsea Assurance Society. One might call it Faerûn's first insurance company or one also could
call it the world's first protection racket. It was a purely Zhentarim organization. It claimed to have patrols that
rode the West Galenas between Vaasa and Thar who had the job of protecting customers' caravans. If a
caravan was raided and sustained losses despite the patrols, Moonsea Assurance would cover the losses.
Bands of elite, high-powered brigands were sent into the mountains; all of them were experienced magi of the
Zhentarim and highly trained former warriors of the Zhentilar who no longer were needed for their previous
duties. The Zhentarim did not wish its scheme to be obvious, nor did it wish proof of the nature of its operations
to be available, therefore, some of the groups operated as raiding brigands, while others made up the hired
patrols.
The Zhentarim opened a second business in Gatehold in Mirtul, the Vaasan-Moonsea Trading Coster, which
also was run by former Zhentilar. The coster had the secondary purpose of moving non-contraband goods still
in Zhentarim warehouses into the Bloodstone Kingdom and beyond for sale, often at a loss to clear the
warehouses. In truth, the Zhentarim had gone out of the caravan business. The main purpose of the coster
was to have its caravans raided by Zhentarim brigands, which happened three times from Kythorn to Eleasias.
All three raids took place within the distant sight of others, to make certain that there were impartial witnesses.
In two cases, bands of brigands were seen raiding small caravans of Vaasa-Moonsea Trading but driven off in
each case by a patrol of the insurance company. In the other case, the patrol arrived too late. The brigands
looted the wagons and burned them.
The head of Vaasan-Moonsea in Gatehold, Tendlar Burdig, made quite a show of his march to the office of
Moonsea Assurance, where he intended to claim his losses, and with little delay, he and his men marched out
again with a respectable collection of bloodstone bars. These things did, of course, leave a certain impression
upon other traders, but Vaasan-Moonsea remained the only customer of the insurance company in the Year of
the Tankard.
Most other traders noted that Burdig's caravans were smaller and more poorly guarded than the average. They
decided to wait and see what would develop before considering insuring their own wares. The Zhentarim had
expected that, of course, and they already had planned to close out the first season of Moonsea Assurance in a
manner that would be spectacular.
In Eleint, the last bloodstone caravan of Fallen Star Trading, a 100% front of the Iron Throne, made its way up
into the West Galenas, protected, as usual, by 50 highly talented warriors and magi. The Zhentarim
substantially bolstered its band of brigands with 150 former Zhentilar warriors and a dozen capable Zhentarim
magi. They attacked the night camp of the Throne caravan halfway between Twilight's Veil and Swampgate.
There were no survivors among the Throne's contingent.
All anyone saw was the ferocious flashing in the mountains at night, as powerful spells were hurled down upon
the caravan. By the time help reached the scene, only bodies, burnt horseflesh and the charred remnants of
caravan wagons were found. The Iron Throne's bloodstone bars, with a value of 200,000 gold talers, were
missing. The Zhentish bandits, following orders, stashed them in a hideout in the mountains. From there, the
bloodstone bars were transported magically to the vault of Fzoul Chembryl's Heart of the Hand Temple in
Zhentil Keep.
Shandaril had to write the incident off as a total loss. It was too late in the year for the Throne to use violence to
deal with the thieves. Before progress could have been made, the mountains would have been snowed in.
Attempts by Shandaril and other Throne magi to scry the area were foiled by magical screens that took time to
dissolve. By the time that was done, there was nothing left for her or the other magi to see.
But before that loss occurred, Shandaril had been keeping other irons in her fire. In Heliogabalus, she had set
the gears in motion for the Iron Throne to capitalize upon the absence of King Gareth. In Throne merchant
circles and particularly within the Damaran Merchants League, dissatisfaction spread over an absentee
monarch who was rumored to be mentally ill. Pressure grew to name a new king.
One of the promising young men in the Throne's ranks in Heliogabalus was a rogue merchant named
Randlbrar, who hailed from Impilturian Hlammach. Randlbrar's advancement within the Throne had been
retarded somewhat because former Burgomaster Rulmgar had known him from Hlammach and had kept a
suspicious eye upon him.
With Rulmgar gone, Shandaril had decided to give Randlbrar a chance to prove whether he was the genuine
talent she believed him to be. She passed her orders on to Titus Traud. He passed them on to a high level
Throne member named Tarbul Krand, and Krand passed them on to Jiebar Groad, an important Damaran grain
merchant and high-level member of the Throne. Groad passed the assignment on to Randlbrar. In doing so,
he set a spiral of events into motion that would set off a long string of unexpected repercussions.
For several years, the Throne had kept a small list of traitors and double dealers within its own ranks. They had
not been slain to avoid drawing Rulmgar's attention to the Throne's operations. With both Rulmgar and the king
gone, Shandaril thought the Throne at last had a bit more slack available for solving these problems.
Randlbrar was to seek out a group of men whom Groad identified and offer them bloodstone bars worth
100,000 gold talers for the quiet assassinations of 10 persons on the lists whose deaths, Shandaril believed,
would not cause a strong uproar or repercussions. The men with whom Randlbrar was to close the contract
were, in fact, Xvimist assassin monks of the Zhentarim in Fzoul Chembryl's service, but no one in the Throne
was aware of that. The assassins did their job well.
So did a covert agent of the Crooked Key of Heliogabalus, who learned that Randlbrar had given the assassins
the contract to slay the 10. A Throne agent also did well. He learned that the Crooked Key was aware of
Randlbrar's deed and that Burgomaster Gillan Dendy had been informed. While Dendy pondered whether to
give Randlbrar more rope or to hang him, Randlbrar realized that his jig was up, and he acted quickly to save
his own hide.
For emergencies, Randlbrar had purchased a scroll that would teleport him along with a considerable number of
possessions to a deserted warehouse back in Hlammach. The possessions he chose were mostly coins and
the 100,000 gold talers in bloodstone bars that the Zhentarim assassins were owed.
Once he arrived at home, his first goal was to visit a wizard he had known, whom he intended to hire to
magically change his appearance. If it hadn't been the case earlier, Randlbrar knew he now was a marked and
hunted man, after he had absconded with the assassins' pay. He met with the wizard, who needed to obtain
materials to perform the magic. They agreed to a price and that Randlbrar should return in three days. Until
then, Randlbrar decided he would continue to hide out in the deserted warehouse.
Up to that time, Randlbrar's escape had been perfect, but at that point, coincidence had trapped him within its
net. An agent of the Impilturian finance ministry, who had served Rulmgar in Heliogabalus and who came with
him to Hlammach, spotted Randlbrar as he made his way to the wizard's complex. The agent knew who
Randlbrar was and even had been assigned to tail him in Heliogabalus, because he was suspected of being a
Throne operative. However, he never had succeeded in gaining proof of illegal activity on Randlbrar's part.
The agent was amazed to see Randlbrar in Hlammach. He followed him to the wizard's tower and back to the
deserted warehouse and then reported to Rulmgar. The finance minister also was concerned about Randlbrar's
presence in Hlammach. He sent agents to question the wizard, who had no interest in being at odds with the
finance minister. He explained what business had been contracted.
After hearing about Randlbrar's wish to magically change his appearance, Rulmgar sent word to the mage that
he should fulfill his contract. From that day on, then, finance agents followed the transformed Randlbrar around
the clock. Meanwhile, Rulmgar sent a message on to Archwand Daerthnur in Ilmwatch, who used his
Bloodstone Talisman to communicate with Burgomaster Dendy in Heliogabalus.
Dendy sent back a message reporting what the Crooked Key had learned and adding that Randlbrar apparently
had skipped town without paying the killers. Brutal men, it was said, were asking questions about Randlbrar in
Heliogabalus, but none seemed to know what had happened to him.
Not only the Zhentarim assassins but also the Iron Throne was concerned about Randlbrar's disappearance,
although Shandaril concluded that he had skipped town after Crooked Key agents had received word about his
role in the assassinations. Shandaril recognized that as a smart move on Randlbrar's house. His being
identified made him useless to the Throne, and she would have seen to his elimination.
However, even after skipping town, he remained dangerous, and he needed more than ever to be eliminated.
He knew too much. Nonetheless, her scrying efforts brought her only as far as Hlammach, and there she lost
his trail.
No sooner had that occurred than another blow hit the throne. Jiebar Groad received an anonymous parchment
upon which someone had written a demand for payment of 100,000 gold talers for services rendered, to be paid
within three days time. Means for turning over the money were described in the document.
Shandaril was furious at the idea of having to pay 100,000 gold talers a second time for the assassins' work, but
she had little choice. The last thing she needed was a back streets war between assassin bands and her
Throne operatives. The money was passed on as demanded.
And yet, the money was a secondary concern. A greater concern was the fact that the assassins knew that
Groad had been involved with Randlbrar in arranging the killings. This suggested to her that Randlbrar had
betrayed Groad's name to the assassins. That, in turn, could mean that Groad would have to be eliminated in
the future. He was only two steps below Titus Traud in the Throne hierarchy. So things stood in that matter at
the year's end.
Things also became a bit livelier in northern Damara and Vaasa in the Year of the Tankard. For the first time,
there were occasional sightings shortly after sundown and shortly after sunrise of flying men with dragon wings
in the East Galenas and on the Vaasan Plain. There was much speculation that these might be the vampires
who had been plaguing Vaasa and northern Damara. As for the vampire attacks, they continued as they had
been in previous years.
Half orc rangers from Palishchuk in the service of Baron Wingham witnessed from hiding in the distance a
sizeable battle in early Marpenoth about 10 miles/15 km southeast of the ruins of Castle Perilous. A host of
about 100 humans encountered a patrol of lizard-dragon men and black men with dragon wings, and it came to
a battle in which many swords clashed, much magic was hurled and apparently only two of the winged black
men survived. They were seen afterwards ascending from the battle scene and flying toward Suncatcher
Mountain.
The rangers examined the scene of the battle and found, among other things, 100 dead humans, puddles of
acid, statues of lizard-dragon men and the carcasses of two juvenile and two young adult dragons that
appeared to have been dead for some time. Later, after further investigation, it turned out that the humans were
the same Sembian expedition that had vanished in the Impilturian-Vaasan Earthspurs long ago. Several of the
human corpses bore symbols of the Dragon Cult.
1371 DR - Year of the Unstrung Harp

As winter drew to a close, turmoil and unrest over the absence of the king grew to a boil in central Damara,
above all in Heliogabalus. The hours of the last day of Ches had passed.
Many of the city's merchants who were aligned with the Iron Throne already were locked in a guarded chamber,
plotting how they could control the naming of a new king, when their guards rapped sharply upon their door and
informed them that King Gareth had ridden into the city with a host of some 50 men and had summoned the
Council of Guildsmen and Merchants to a meeting with him in their chambers – immediately.
As the various councilors arrived individually in the chamber, a few of them recognized some of the men who
had come with King Gareth as paladins, knights, magi or priests of renown from elsewhere in the Realms,
among them Holy Judge Remarus of Tyr, one of the leading priests of Tyr from the House of Tyr's Hand in
Milvarune in Thesk.
The king explained neither where he had been nor why he had brought the travelers to the councilors' chamber,
introducing only Holy Judge Remarus to them and saying that Remarus had accepted his appointment as the
new Judge Superior of the Bloodstone Kingdom.
A shifty-eyed man in irons was brought forth then, and the king introduced him to the council as Randlbrar of
Hlammach, whom he described as a murderer and agent of the Iron Throne. He said the former burgomaster
and current Impilturian Finance Minister Rulmgar had captured Randlbrar. None recognized the man as
Randlbrar, but the king related how the culprit had contracted to have his appearance changed with magic.
The king ordered Randlbrar to give his testimony. Randlbrar told how the merchant Jiebar Groad had ordered
him to contract for the assassinations in Heliogabalus the previous year. He said that Groad was a high level
operative of the Iron Throne, and Randlbrar also named several other merchants who he said were on his own
level, directly under Groad, in the Throne organization.
Most of those named were present. One merchant managed to slip out of the council unseen and passed word
on to his senior in the Throne, who in turn saw to it that the news went quickly up the chain of command to Titus
Traud and Shandaril. She realized there was no chance for Groad, who was before the king in the council, to
escape, and there also was no guarantee that Groad would not talk. For security's sake, she ordered Groad's
superior, Tarbul Krand, slain, and the assassination was carried out before Krand could be arrested,
King Gareth ordered Groad and all of the other merchants present who were named by Randlbrar to be thrown
into chains and be held in the city's dungeons until Holy Judge Remarus could arrange for them to be tried
fairly.
In Hlammach, Rulmgar had made a deal with Randlbrar, who wanted to save his neck. Because he was facing
assassination charges, it was as good as in the noose. Randlbrar also was not willing to bargain for serving a
prison sentence in Damara or Impiltur, because he was convinced the tentacles of the Iron Throne would reach
him there. Rulmgar settled for Randlbrar serving 25 years time in the royal prison of Suzail, the capital of
Cormyr, if he would testify in Heliogabalus.
After his appearance before the merchants of Heliogabalus, the king told the council he had traveled to many
lands and learned much of the tools available to a ruling king and also of the practical limitations of a king's
power. He said that a body of just laws would rule the Bloodstone Kingdom, and the folk of the kingdom would
learn to live within and uphold these laws. He reminded them that the guildmasters and merchants of the
kingdom were every bit as much subjects of the king as the simplest peasant farmers.
After leaving the council, the king met privately with Burgomaster Dendy, who urged the monarch to make the
same offer to Groad as Rulmgar had made to Randlbrar. He argued that cracking the infiltration of the Iron
Throne was more important to the future of the Bloodstone Kingdom than the hanging of a single criminal.
Reluctantly, the king agreed.
Groad too wanted to save his own throat, and after accepting the deal offered to him, he identified Tarbul Krand
as his superior in the Throne hierarchy. Burgomaster Dendy's hopes of catching fish higher in the Throne
hierarchy were dashed with that news, because Krand already had been found murdered. However, Groad
also identified several lesser members of the Throne network in Heliogabalus who were under his branch.
Many of them had fled after hearing of Groad's arrest, but some still could be apprehended and tried.
When the cases came before Holy Judge Remarus, Groad and Randlbrar pleaded guilty and were sentenced to
25 years in prison. They others were sentenced to death and hanged. Groad and Randlbrar were taken
secretly to cells in the royal prison in Suzail in Cormyr, but King Azoun's kingdom was not distant enough to
save Randlbrar.
The assassins of Iyachtu Xvim were determined that he should pay for skipping Heliogabalus with their
assassins' fees. In mid-Nightal, Randlbrar was found dead in his cell, slain with poison. The Xvimists had not
been involved with Groad. He remained unharmed. But for his security's sake, it was arranged for him to be
transported secretly and with magic to a new cell in Waterdeep, where he remains today.
In mid-Tarsakh, King Gareth returned to his throne in Bloodstone, telling Prince Quillan, Duke Riordan, Duke
Olwen, Baron Celedon and his other close friends that he spent but two rides in the Monastery of the Yellow
Rose, meditating and conversing with the spirit of his old companion in arms, the monk Kane, who died in the
battle of the Citadel of Assassins years earlier.
The king said Kane taught him that he must persevere not only under the adversities brought on by his
enemies, but also that he must endure the adversities that result from his own actions, for no king is truly all
wise, and the results of a king's daily decisions in a world shaped by politics often is far removed from a king's
dreams, and that is a burden every king must endure.
Kane's spirit summoned then the luminous white horse Nil'thingol to King Gareth. The horse was a creature
from another plane that once served ancient elven kings, and Nil'thingol accepted the king as his rider. King
Gareth told his friends that Nil'thingol had the ability to transport him and up to 100 companions to any location
where he wished to be once daily. However, the king said he preferred to ride Nil'thingol rather than to use his
magic. For this reason, he resorted to magical travel only when speed is necessary.
The monarch told how Kane advised him that if he wished to be a good king and a good paladin in this world,
he should go forth and learn how good kings and good paladins of the world fulfill their duties. His experiences,
King Gareth said, had taught him that he must keep his dreams, his high standards and his goals, but he also
must learn to understand what the limits of these dreams are and be prepared to negotiate and settle for less
than he desired, to achieve that which is necessary.
Above all, however, he said that Piergeiron and Azoun made clear to him that one must compromise to achieve
good, but one may never compromise with evil. For this reason, he said, he had placed the Holy Judge
Remarus in charge of justice in Heliogabalus, and other priests of Tyr who had come back with him to Damara
would draft a new legal system for the kingdom.
The king's justice had dealt a painful blow to Shandaril's Iron Throne organization in the Bloodstone Kingdom.
Much of her attention in the Year of the Unstrung Harp was concentrated upon rebuilding what had been
destroyed by the testimony of Groad and Randlbrar. She and Traud also spent much effort in redesigning
chains of command, to make such betrayals less likely in the future.
In addition to these troubles, bandit attacks in the West Galenas upon Throne caravans from the Moonsea
region were becoming a serious problem. Other small trading costers using Garumn's Climb and Gramble's
Climb had begun to buy protection from Moonsea Assurance, but Shandaril refused such extortion. Instead,
she hired mercenary bands of her own to hunt down the bandits, still unaware that her true opponent was the
Zhentarim.
Shandaril also was at another tremendous disadvantage, because the Zhentarim always had a good overview
of almost all Throne operations. Hagurd, who along with Dalton Krenn and Shandaril formed the controlling
triumvirate of the Throne, continued to be Fzoul Chembryl's foremost Zhentarim agent within the Throne, and he
fed critical information to Zhentil Keep.
The Zhentarim were prepared for Shandaril's resistance. However, with the restructuring of the Black Network,
Fzoul Chembryl had a large number of surplus Zhentilar and Zhentarim magi at his disposal, and he was able to
use them to bring bandit groups against the Throne's mercenaries who simply were too powerful for them.
As the warm months wore on, Throne caravans continued to take losses in the West Galenas. Only one
caravan reached the Moonsea unscathed, and that was because Shandaril herself, curious to see the
opposition, used her own magic to defend it. None of the Zhentarim magi in the bandit groups were a match for
her epic level abilities.
It became clear to Dalton Krenn and Shandaril that the Throne would have to wage a running war in the
mountains against the bandits or pay for protection. Reluctantly, they decided it would be cheaper to buy a
policy from Moonsea Assurance and then reduce the amount of guards traveling with their caravans to offset
costs somewhat, rather than sustain the ongoing losses a mountain war would cause.
Beyond these events, the Bloodstone Kingdom enjoyed relative peace in the Year of the Unstrung Harp. Only
in the higher levels of royal and local government did one understand how deceptive that peace was. It became
clear in this year that the mysterious foe atop Suncatcher Mountain and in the ruins of Castle Perilous was
beginning to move. As a result, King Gareth and Regent War Captain Kyrlraun of Impiltur began seriously
examining how to fight the war they believed would be inevitable.
In the summer months, flights of dragons - in truth vampire dragons, but that was unknown to the humans
below - were seen winging from Castle Perilous over the East Galenas and then Helmsdale, Kinbrace and
Kinnery and Rawlinswood, where they vanished. None of the wyrms returned. Unknown to the Bloodstone
Kingdom and Impiltur, they had been destroyed by the mysterious Nentyarch. Other dragons were spotted
flying over Bloodstone Pass, Arcata and across the Earthspurs, to look at what was happening in Impiltur below
before returning home.
However, the dragon flights lasted less than a month before stopping as suddenly as they had begun. In the
time that followed, bands of dragon-lizardmen (Realms Draconians), each led by a humanlike form with dragon
wings (vampire dragon in hybrid form) were spotted several times on the Vaasan Plain, in the East Galenas and
in the open lands of Soravia to march around the foot of the Giantspires and on into Rawlinswood of the Great
Dale, east of the Nentyarch's domain.
These bands did all they could to avoid contact with possible foes. In most cases, they simply vanished from
sight. One assumed they had used magic to become invisible, because rangers of the Bloodstone Riders could
see that their tracks continued on toward Rawlinswood and the Great Dale. But when the rangers followed the
draconians by tracking, they were outpaced by their prey.
It became clear to King Gareth and to War Regent Captain Kyrlraun that the foe atop Suncatcher was preparing
a second front in Harbet Gall's Eastern Dale. With it, the enemy would be able to pinch the Princedom of
Damara from two sides once fighting began. They also took the reconnaissance flights over northern Impiltur
as a sign that aerial warfare might be planned there.
GAME MASTER'S NOTE: The events that follow are described farther below in Part 5 of
this accessory, in the section 5.1 The Running Clock of the Year of Wild Magic. The
activities of the vampire dragons and draconians within Rawlinswood and beyond are
described in The Great Dale, Part 6 of Northern Journey. This accessory can be
downloaded free from the Northern Journey Internet site at:
4. People, Organizations and Locations
4.1 A Cast of Characters and Organizations

This section is necessary for those game masters who also are using the H-series of modules and/or FR9 The
Bloodstone Lands. A large number of official NPCs are introduced in these works. The list below will give you
a quick update on the status of these NPCs in Tarsakh of the Year of Wild Magic (1372).
This section also should be useful to all game masters who want a quick reference to the identity or status of
NPCs. It includes not only official WotC NPCs but also the unofficial characters introduced in this work. The
following format is used:
Name of the NPC

Last current location – Last current year / Official NPC (FR) or unofficial NPC (NJ)
Information about the NPC.
This list does not include statistics for these NPCs. The statistics for important NPCs can be found in the
Northern Journey Campaign Guide, Version 8, which is available in versions for both Dungeons & Dragons
Editions 3 and 3.5 and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition.
A number of official NPCs from FR9 are not used in this accessory. FR9 was written in a time when both TSR
Inc. and the people who played in the Forgotten Realms took their campaigns a bit less seriously than they do
today. It was more popular in those days to use corny names and ideas than it is now. We have chosen not to
perpetuate this tradition.
For that reason, the Thunkers do not crop up here, nor do the Thunkers of the Thunkers or Weird Wingham's
Wacky Weapon Wielders. You also will search in vain here for people like Bistro Battenrooj, who may or may
not be running a bistro in Baton Rouge. However, if you wish to have these organizations or NPCs in your
campaign, we have done nothing to block you.
Abordabe
Narfell - 1372 / FR
He is a tribal leader and Bildoobaris Trade Fair leader in Narfell.
Acragash
Narfell - 876 / NJ
Acragash Rednose was first khan of the Giantspires Hobgoblins.
Afrafa
Arcata - 1372 / FR
The female Ilmatari monk wanders in Damara and Vaasa. She is mentioned only historically in this accessory.
Aldric, Abbot
Bloodstone Village - 1359 / FR
Friar Dugald and Brother Kane destroyed Aldric after he was turned into a vampire.
Alliance of Belt Watchers

Damara - Waukeshire - 1372 / FR
This organization does not appear in this accessory.
Anghelkhus, Panus
Bloodstone Kingdom - 1365 / NJ
Anghelkhus is the court mage of the Bloodstone Kingdom. He created the Bloodstone Talismans.
Assumbrar, Felice
Soravia - 1366 / NJ
The Harper wizardess is an ally of Duke Olwen of Soravia. She lives in Mosstone Tower.
Banak
Vaasa - Citadel of Assassins - 1359 /
He died in the Bloodstone Battle (See module H2 - P.7).
Bandit Army
The bandit army was mostly destroyed in the Battle of the 2nd Citadel of Assassins.
Battenrooj, Bistro
Impiltur - 1372 / FR
Battenrooj does not appear in this accessory.
Bracegirdle, Hobart
Damara - 1363 / FR
He is the halfling Baron of Bloodstone.
Cantoule
Yellow Rose - 1372 / FR
He still serves as Grandfather of Flowers in the Monastery of Yellow Rose.
Cat One-Eye
Vaasa - Citadel of Assassins - 1360 / FR
She died in the Battle of the 2nd Citadel of Assassins.
Circus of Dr. Trundles

Damara - 1372 / FR
The circus wanders in Damara and Vaasa. It is mentioned only historically in this accessory.

Heliogabalus - 1363 / NJ
The Key is the burgomaster's spy organization against the Iron Throne.
Dawnstar Trading Coster

Soravia - 1366 / NJ
The coster consists of Calaunt Merchants selling leather goods in Tokard.
Dendy, Gillan
Gillan is the Burgomaster of Heliogabalus.
Donlevy the Young

Polten - 1372 / FR
Donlevy is the Baron of Polten.
Dormythyrr
Damara, Duchy of Brandiar - 1360 / FR
Dormythyrr is the Duke of Brandiar.
Dragonsbane, Christine
Bloodstone Kingdom - 1362 / FR
She is the druidess queen of the Bloodstone Kingdom.
Dragonsbane, Gareth
Bloodstone Kingdom - 1362 / FR
He is the king of the Bloodstone Kingdom.
Dugald, Friar
Heliogabalus - 1372 / FR
He is a high Priest of Ilmater and builder of the Goliad cathedral.
Emelyn the Grey

Bloodstone Barony - 1362 / FR
The mage now is working with the queen on the reforestation of Warrenwood.
Ephran
Ephran's Skinny Tower does not appear in this accessory.
Fallen Star Holding

Impiltur - 1356 / NJ
The Iron Throne front in Impilturian Hlammach runs the Fallen Star Trading Coster in Damara and Vaasa.
Finn, Talbot
Carmathan - 1362 / NJ
The former Steward of Carmathan is retired.
Forest-Friend, Olwen
Damara - Duchy of Soravia - 1372 / FR
He is the Duke of Soravia.
Garuk One Ears

Galenas, Earthspurs - 1372 / FR
He does not appear in this accessory.
Haystacks, Tom
Ostel - 1363 / FR
He is the Baron of Ostel.
Hea-Rem
White Worm - 1372 / FR
He is chieftain of the White Worm Barbarians.
Hedwick
White Worm - 1372 / FR
He is Spirit Hunter of the White Worm Tribe.
Helmont XV
Carmathan - 1362 / FR
The imposter duke fled to Impiltur. His whereabouts are unknown.
Heralds of Imphras II
See NJ Part 5, Impiltur. The heralds enforce the law in Impiltur and bring news of the land to the people.
Hillsafar, Garumbelly
Hillsafar Hall - 1362 / FR
He is Baron of Sunderland.
Horse
Narfell - 1372 / FR
Hurl
Thunkers of the Thunkers - 1372 / FR
Icerunners
Soravia - 1366 / NJ
This is a trade organization.
Kane
Yellow Rose - 1360 / FR
He died in the Battle of the 2nd Citadel of Assassins.
Kargmelchina
Suncatcher Mountain - 1358 / NJ
Vampire dragon lich. She restored Sammaster, moved to Castle Dragonblood on Suncatcher Mountain in 1359
and became an avatar of Tiamat in 1360.
Kelibann, Raimund
He was the leader of the Royalists and was briefly lord burgomaster of the free city until being assassinated by
the Iron Throne in the Year of the Tide Turned (1363 DR).
Kierney, Celedon
Morov, Damara - 1363 / FR
He has been the Baron of Morov since the Year of the Tide Turned (1363 DR).
Kneebreakers
Damara - 1372 / FR
Knellict
Citadel of Assassins/Castle Dragonblood - 1372 / FR
A former epic archmage who served Zhengyi the Witch King and then two Grandfathers of Assassins, he now is
the highest level vampire dragon in the service of Castle Dragonblood.
Kyrlraun
He is the Regent War Captain who rules Impiltur. He is detailed in the Northern Journey Campaign Guide and
in Impiltur, Part 5 of Northern Journey.
Lundlnyr
Carmathan - 1362 / NJ
He is a high level mage in Carmathian Ravensburg.
Mariabronne
Vaasa - 1372 / FR
He is the commander of the Bloodstone Riders in Vaasa.
Mundelraun
Kinnery - 1372 / NJ
He is an independent archmage who appears to be in Soravia but really lives on the Great Glacier Pelvuria.
Murnaros
Vaasa - 1372 / FR
He is the dwarven Duke of Ironspur.
Myrkos
Valls - 1372 / FR
He was the commander of the former Arcatan Ducal Guard and now commands the 3rd Battalion, 1st Combat
Regiment of the Damaran Princely Brigade in Arcatan Walls..
Nentyarch
Rawlinswood - 1372 / FR
The mysterious sorcerer-druid controls central Rawlinswood. He and his domain are detailed in the Northern
Journey Campaign Guide and The Great Dale, Part 6 of Northern Journey.
Northwatch
Moonsea and western Vaasa - 1366 / FR
This private band patrols Gramble's Climb and Highsong. It is friendly with the Harpers.
Parnell, Riordan
Carmathan - 1362 / FR
He is the current Duke of Carmathan.
Quillan the Sage

He is the Prince of Damara.
Redeye, Tem
Giantspires - 1372 / FR
He is the Khan of the Acragash hobgoblins.
Ree, Dimian
Morovar - 1363 / FR
The former Baron of Morov was killed by Iron Throne assassin Fihdjin Garszh of Thay.
Ree, Tarkos
Tightpurse - 1363 / FR
The former guildmaster of Tightpurse in Heliogabalus was killed by Iron Throne assassin Fihdjin Garszh of
Thay.
Rilaunyr
Ilmwatch in Impiltur - 1372 / FR
The commander of the Impilturian Navy is detailed in the Northern Journey Campaign Guide and in Impiltur,
Part 5 of Northern Journey.
Rocktappers of the Earthfasts

This group does not appear in this accessory.
Rulmgar
Heliogabalus (former) - 1370 / NJ
The former burgomaster of Heliogabalus now is the Impilturian Finance Minister.
Sammaster
Suncatcher Mountain - 1372 / FR
The founder of the Dragon was restored as vampire dragon lich. Since 1359, he has been working with
Kargmelchina atop Suncatcher Mountain.
Seamus Brennan
Bloodstone Kingdom - 1362 / NJ
The former High Holy Justice of the former Royal Damaran High Court now serves as a semi-retired priest of
Tyr in Heliogabalus.
Shandaril
Those who know her at all recognize the epic wizardess as the reclusive lady Madeleine Tiegarth. In her true
identity, she is the secret head of the Iron Throne for the Bloodstone Kingdom, the Great Dale, Impiltur and the
Vast.
Shortsleeves, Bahooha
Snowriders Trading Coster

Sunderland - 1366 / NJ
This trading coster has its headquarters in Soravian Thimble with a branch in Vaasan Asfaloth.
Soravian Talebringers
Soravia - 1362 / FR
This band was merged into Soravian Militia and slain in Battle of the Vanished.
Spysong
Damara - 1363 / FR
This band was merged into the Bloodstone Riders.
Sylvia
Praka - 1362 / FR
The former Baroness of Ostel was slain in combat by the bounty hunter Sleyvas of Thay.
Tarun
Arcata - 1359 / NJ
He is the current Duke of Arcata.
Thunderclap, Darren
Vaasa - 1362 / NJ
The former Burgomaster of Darmshall now is the Prince of Vaasa.
Thunkers
Galenas - 1372 / FR
Thunkers of the Thunkers

Galenas - 1372 / FR
Tiamat
Goddess, Baator - 1372 / FR
She took Kargmelchina as an avatar in 1370 and now works in that form with Sammaster atop Suncatcher
Mountain.
Tiegarth, Madeleine
This is the cover identity of Shandaril. She appears to be a well-to-do but reclusive lady.
Tightpurse
Many members of the former Heliogabalus thieves guild were slain by Iron Throne assassins. Many of the
survivors now serve the burgomaster of Heliogabalus in the Crooked Key, an organization that works against
the Iron Throne.
Timoshenko
The 2nd Grandfather of Assassins died in battle of 2nd Citadel of Assassins.
Tranth, Baron
Bloodstone - 1359 / FR
The retired Baron of Bloodstone died a natural death in 1363.
Traud, Titus
Bloodstone - 1363 / NJ
Most in Heliogabalus believe Traud to be a businessman who sometimes deals with organizations friendly to
the Iron Throne and as the consort of the reclusive Madeleine Tiegarth. In truth, he is No. 2 for the Iron Throne
in the Bloodstone Kingdom, the Great Dale, Impiltur and the Vast.
Twilight Riders
Southern Damara - 1362 / FR
This group was merged into the Bloodstone Riders.
Viligoth, Myrddin
Damara - 1372 / FR
He is the current commander of the Bloodstone Riders in Damara.
Watchers
Earthspurs - 1372 / FR
These are monks of the Monastery of the Yellow Rose who wander alone in mountains.
Weird Wingham's Wacky Weapon Wielders

Southern Vaasa, Northern Damara - 1372 / FR
This group was absorbed into the militia of Palishchuk.
White Worm
Outside of Vaasa - 1372 / FR
This barbarian tribe lives at the foot of Pelvuria the Great Glacier outside the bounds of the Bloodstone
Kingdom.
Wildfeet, Marco
Soravia - 1361 / FR
He was slain in the Battle of the Vanished.
William VIII
Arcata - 1359 / FR
The former Duke of Arcata was exiled into Vaasa and never seen again.
Wingham
Vaasa - 1362 / FR
He is the current Baron of Palishchuk.
Zorth
Polten - 1360 / FR
The former puppet baron of Polten fled to Impiltur. His current whereabouts are unknown.
4.2 Races of the Bloodstone Kingdom
Centaurs
This race once populated the Warrenwood in Bloodstone Pass, but the centaur population fled westward into
the Vast after Zhengyi's hordes burned its forest to the ground during the wars. The druidess queen, Lady
Christine, and the mage Emelyn the Grey both have been working to reforest the centaurs' homeland since the
fall of the Witch King. Emelyn still maintains contact with Kiros, Chief of the Centaur Council of Elders in exile.
Before the devastation of Warrenwood, Kiros and his centaurs were allied with Sir Gareth, the halflings living in
the Warren and the Orothiar dwarves.
Dwarves
NOTE: The section repeats in part information already offered in Impiltur, the 5th part of Northern
Journey. Ed Greenwood first detailed the old dwarven kingdoms
of Sarphil and Dareth mentioned here in the out-of-print
accessory FR11 Dwarves Deep from the year 1990. This
accessory can be purchased as an ESD download. It also
provides information on Clan Hillsafar and the Earthfast dwarves
of Impiltur. Rick Swan related the history of the Innugaakalikurit
dwarves of the Great Glacier in the out-of-print accessory FR 14
The Great Glacier from the year 1992. It too is available as an
ESD download. Simon Gibbs provided additional information on
the Sarphil dwarves.
Nearly 20,000 dwarves live in the Bloodstone Kingdom. The majority are members of clans in the Galena
Mountains, but some groups of dwarves can be found almost anywhere within the kingdom. The dwarves were
the first settlers of these lands, with their legacy dating in some cases as far back as the great but fallen nation
of Sarphil.
The stout folk outside of the mountains often earn their living as artisans in the larger settlements, particularly in
Heliogabalus, Trailsend, Bloodstone Pass, Virdin, Praka, Sudrav and Tomrav. Most of these tend to offer
services as blacksmiths, weaponsmiths, armor makers, stonemasons, construction workers and architects.
Dwarves of three different origins can be found in the Bloodstone Kingdom. The Orothiar Clan members are
the only hill dwarves in the kingdom. They migrated upon a quest from the Great Rift in the South. The
Hillsafar and Ironspur clans of the East Galenas are remnants of the Sarphil nation. The dwarves of Tomrav in
southwestern Damara are migrated members of the Impilturian Earthfast Clan which also have Sarphil origins.
As often is the case with dwarves, the history of those in the Bloodstone Kingdom goes far back indeed, in
some cases to a day when the dwarven races still commanded the old dvergr magic (see the Northern Journey
Campaign Guide for details). The Ironspur and Earthfast dwarves find their origins in the same songs and tales,
and these all come from ancient Sarphil.
Dwarven writings of deeds in Sarphil trace back over more than 7,000 years, but many elements of this history
are lost in the void of time. It seems probable, however, going by what was recorded on stone rune tablets, that
the mountains between the Moonsea Region and the Sea of Fallen Stars once were a larger range than they
are today. The old stone tablets speak often of the Dragonspike Mountains, the name used today by the
dwarves who live in them for the Dragonspine Mountains north of the Moonsea.
The ancient tablets also speak of dwarves and deeds and great finds of ore or jewels in the Dragonspikes, and
the locations described at times are indeed in the Dragonspines of today, but at other times they are just as
clearly in areas that can only be the barren wastelands of Thar or the southern tip of the Vast or even the
Earthfasts of Impiltur. In all cases, the Dragonspikes included the Galenas of today.
The picture that emerges is of a tremendous mountain range that took the shape of a crooked star with several
points, or spikes, as the dwarves called them. It began indeed to the north of the Moonsea, where today's
Dragonspines stand, but continued farther to the north, no doubt including the cluster of mountains in the Ride
north of the Citadel of the Raven that are on the eastern edge of the Border Forest and extending across the
Tortured Land to the Turnback Mountains, today on the eastern edge of Anauroch.
These mountains then cut a large swath eastward, covering the Grey Land of Thar and merging with the West
Galenas of today. In those days, there still was no Great Glacier Pelvuria, but rather the huge, frigid inner sea
known as the Cold Ocean that also covered today's lands of Damara and Vaasa.
The ancient Dragonspikes continued southward, along the western border of current day Vaasa and then
formed a ridge that separated the inner ocean from the Moonsea, with one spike of the mountains stretching far
northeastward into the ocean, forming today's East Galenas.
NOTE: The Dragonspikes, as they existed earlier, can be seen on the map The Cold Lands ca. -
5000 DR in Section 3.1, Ancient History, of this accessory. Please note that parts of the mountains
already had collapsed at this time.
If the old rune tablets are correct, much of the rest of the mountains were as they are today, continuing on into
Impiltur and the Vast, except that the part of the mountains known today as the eastern Earthspurs continued
on where the northwestern corner of Rawlinswood is today, joining with the Giantspires of Narfell.
The dwarven Realm of Sarphil encompassed this entire great range and apparently still more, tunneling
beneath the River Lis to the rocky area on the Moonsea north of present day Elventree, where dwarves found
rich copper veins that they mined as well as the wrath of the elves, who drove them back into the mountains of
the east in a hail of arrows.
Sarphil fell for the same reason as many other of dwarfdom's Lost Kingdoms: It had spread itself far too thinly
over too great an area to be able to defend itself against the many enemies it had made. In ca. –4400 DR, the
central halls of Sarphil were overrun by drow and duergar and they appear never to have been reclaimed again.
And yet, the tales of the ancient rune tablets suggest there may have been more. In the Year –2550 DR, some
4,000 years after Sarphil's founding, Ulutiu died and his funeral barge, together with his magical necklace, sank
on the inner ocean, beginning the formation of the Pelvuria. Over the next three centuries, the inner ocean
slowly froze and turned into the Great Glacier, apparently causing serious geological and climatological shifts
throughout the region. The rune tablets speak of many earthquakes during this time, with several cave-ins of
large dwarven halls and in a few instances of mountains collapsing.
One such rune stone, discovered in fragments of a dwarven complex in the West Galenas, speaks of Sarphil's
Snow Axe dwarven clan and the mountains they lived in being swallowed completely by earthquakes and
vanishing below a barren plain. The evidence is strong, that this was the stretch of mountains that once
crossed the area now occupied by Thar.
The stone tablets indicate that the earthquakes became much less frequent after 15 or 16 centuries and also
that the Great Glacier had attained much of its current form by that time. Rune tablets found in the western
Dragonspine Mountains of today even tell of an unusual expulsion of dwarves out of Sarphil and onto the Great
Glacier. The event, according, according to the tablet, occurred in –2274 DR, some 275 years after Ulutiu's
death.
There had been conflicts of some sort between the Sarphil dwarves and the inhabitants of the Border Forest in
the Northwest of Faerûn. These probably were elves. An entire Sarphil clan that lived in the vanished range
now covered by the Tortured Land refused to join other dwarves in fighting these battles, and the clan was
banished forever by their kin onto Pelvuria.
Information in a much later age written in Blood and Ice by the Vaasan explorer Palus Frohm revealed that only
four of the exiled dwarves survived the yearlong march to the Novularond range of Pelvuria. Of these grew
today's race of Innugaakalikurit dwarves on the Great Glacier.
Earthquakes, vanishing dwarven halls and lost dwarves further divided the great Realm of Sarphil into many
clans scattered throughout the surviving mountain chains and ranges. The last of the Sarphil kings,
Dauringogh, vanished in the caverns beneath Mount Throndor southeast of Glister in the West Galenas of today
between Thar and Vaasa.
Dwarven lineage also becomes somewhat confusing through the migration of the stout folk from the south,
some 4,000 wandering into the mountains north of Rashemen. These dwarves found their own nation of
Dareth, which later formed alliances with the dwarves of Delzoun in Faerûn's northwest, but there is little trace
of relations between the dwarves of Dareth and the survivors of Sarphil.
There are still several surviving clans of what once were Sarphil dwarves in the Dragonspines northwest of the
Moonsea, with an estimated combined population of 15,000. Additional clans can be found in the West
Galenas between Thar and Vaasa.
There are a substantial number of Sarphil descendents among the scattered dwarves of Damara and Vaasa,
but many of these are descendants of the ancient realm of Dareth and have been living homeless and clanless
in the Bloodstone Lands since the Great Glacier receded. Most of these have migrated into Damara from the
Mulptan area of Rashemen, where more than 2,000 descendants of Dareth still live.
About 5,000 Sarphil and Dareth dwarves, mostly smiths and craftsmen, can be found in Heliogabalus. There
are about 4,000 Sarphil dwarves in Ironspur and 1,000 each in Praka and Trailsend. The Earthfast dwarves in
Tomrav number a bit over 200. The Orothiar Clan of hill dwarves can be found only in the Orothiar Clanhold,
Bloodstone Village, Virdin and the Bloodstone Mines. They number about 2,000. High Iron Duke Murnaros
rules over some 4,000 Sarphil descendants in Ironspur, perhaps one of the few halls of the Sarphil empire to
have survived the centuries unscathed.
The Sarphil descendants who live in the Bloodstone Kingdom are, for the most part, survivors of clans and clan
fragments who continued to inhabit the roots of the Galenas long after their nation's fall. Their ancestors saw
the waters of the Cold Ocean, and thousands of years later, they saw how the ocean's waters became the
Great Glacier. More modern generations experienced the receding of the glacier, freeing for the first time the
lands now known as Vaasa and Damara.
The Orothiar hill dwarves above Bloodstone Valley have an entirely different history, one they have not
forgotten entirely. Their journey to Bloodstone Valley began sometime about -2400 DR, more than 800 years
before the great battle of Horindon Lhar, when dwarven magic began to wane. At that time, the great red wyrm
Grafvitnir, who had been serving the Imaskari, flew from the cave of a deceased Orothiar runecutter named Toki
in the Great Rift, stealing the dwarf's library of magic.
When the collected clans became aware of the theft, they were determined to track down the dragon and
reclaim the treasure, not only as a matter of pride but also to prevent the secrets of ancient dwarven magic from
falling into non-dwarven hands. The runestainers of the collected clans had located the vanished dragon in a
mountain range far to the north, that now known as the Galenas. They placed a geas upon the 3,500 hill
dwarves of the Orothiar Clan, binding them to the quest for Grafvitnir.
Thane Torluk led his clan through the Underdark and over land and mountains northward, successfully finding
the Galenas to which the geas had sent him. But neither he nor his clansmen ever succeeded in finding
Grafvitnir or the lost library from the Great Rift. After the Battle of Horindon Lhar in -1591 DR, the Orothiar
runecutters no longer were able to pass the secrets of their craft on to the clan's offspring. The only magic that
remained was in the craft of the master smiths and the divine spells of priests and clerics.
Elves and Half-Elves, including Drow

These races are rare in the Bloodstone Kingdom. Green elves sometimes are encountered on the borders of
Rawlinswood northeast of Lenchford and Tellerth in the Barony of Polten. Most of these can be assumed to be
servants of the mysterious Nentyarch of the Great Dale. Full elves are rare in the Kingdom. Any who are
encountered are almost certain to be itinerant adventurers.
The elves found in the largest concentrations in the Bloodstone Kingdom are the dark elves
living in the drow city named V'elddrinnsshar beneath the Galenas and the Vaasan Plain that
once had been dedicated to the Spider Queen Lolth. There one finds Kiaransalee’s main
temple in Faerûn, the Acropolis of Thanatos, which has been given the mission of eliminating
all thought of Orcus from the Realms. (For more information, see Demihuman Deities by Eric
L. Boyd - TSR 1998, available as an ESD download.)
Giants
An estimated 3,000 hill and stone giants live in the Western Galenas above Vaasa and Thar. Since their defeat
in the service of Zhengyi during the Bloodstone Wars, the giants appear to be seeking a reclusive life in
seclusion. Their conflicts these days seem to be mainly with ogres and orcs who disturb their peace.
Goblins
The only large, remaining concentration of this race is in the Western Galenas above Vaasa and Thar, but it is
large enough - estimated to number more than 100,000 - to produce a threat to the lands below. The danger is
offset somewhat however by the chaotic disorganization of the goblin tribes, who constantly war with one
another when they are not being beat into submission and service by orcs or ogres.
The goblins have the problem that a magical force has been siphoning off small tribes and drawing them to the
ruins of Castle Perilous, where they vanish. Sammaster and Kargmelchina are, in fact, drawing the goblins
there to turn them into Realms draconians.
Halflings
No one in the Bloodstone Kingdom's two halfling settlements knows whence their ancestors came, nor do any
of the small folk seem to really care. Neither historians nor sages have trifled with such detail either. That
notwithstanding, at least some halflings can be found in most Damaran settlements west of Soravia. However,
the small folk are rare in Vaasa. The majority of the kingdom's halflings, all tallfellows, are concentrated in the
Waukeshire of Bloodstone Pass and Halfling Downs in Carmathan near the Impilturian border.
The small folk of Halfling Downs trade actively with the outside world but live reclusively. The halflings of the
Waukeshire, on the other hand, tend to be an outgoing folk. They are loyal supporters of King Gareth and are
closely allied with the Orothiar dwarven clan. They also were closely allied with the centaurs of the Warrenwood
until it burned and the centaurs fled into the West.
Although the Tallfellows of both communities are quite capable of defending themselves, neither settlement is
quarrelsome or combative. Most residents either are farmers or artisans. In contrast to their brethren of the
West, the halflings of the Bloodstone Kingdom are not (yet) pipe smokers. Tobacco remains unknown to them.
Half-Orcs
This hybrid race generally is well off in the Bloodstone Lands, where it is at least tolerated by most people and
accepted as just another race by many. This is not necessarily surprising. A large number of half-orcs were
born of human mothers in parts of Damara when the land was under Zhengyi's thumb. No small number of
Damarans has half-orc relatives.
More important, however, is the attitude that the nation's half-orcs have displayed. Most of them have worked
hard to become productive members of society and many fought side by side with humans during the wars.
Half-orc-ruled Palishchuk in eastern Vaasa is a respected community that has formed strong and friendly ties
with the dwarves of Ironspur, the Orothiar Clan and Hillsafar Hall.
It's something of a surprise to newcomers to the Bloodstone Kingdom, but half-orcs are likely to be found almost
anywhere within it, and they may be found in respectable positions as well. In the South, in the Arcatan and
Carmathian mountain settlements of Tomrav and Sudrav, half-orcs also are cherished by humans and dwarves
alike, because they often have been able to act as go-betweens.
With their help, the humans and dwarves have been able to avoid battles with goblinkind tribes settled in their
areas. The half-orcs of the South usually are warriors who can hunt or log. Those who are elsewhere in the
kingdom may be found in all walks of life.
Hobgoblins
There are few hobgoblins within the Bloodstone Kingdom, but there are two huge hosts of them that do threaten
the monarchy in one case and could threaten it in the second:
• Khan Tem Redeye, chief of the hobgoblin Acragash Khanate in the Giantspires of Narfell, rules over a
network of combined tribes estimated at 200,000 in number. They in turn have subjugated most of the
orcs, ogres and giants in the mountains, forcing them into their service as well.
• From the hobgoblin city of Karadâzh in the Earthspurs over Impiltur and southwestern Damara, War
Chancellor Radahnzâgh commands a tightly disciplined, militaristic tribal union of more than 50,000
hobgoblins. Radahnzâgh has sealed a peace agreement with the Kingdom of Impiltur, and he appears
to let Damaran Arcata live in peace, as long as it does the same for him. However, Karadâzh is closed
to outsiders. A Damaran who enters Radahnzâgh's realm should expect to be in serious trouble.
The Giantspires of Narfell, which loom over the Damaran Duchy of Soravia, have respectable populations of
giants, goblins and ogres. However, powerful hobgoblin tribes that view the Giantspires as their territory long
have dominated the mountains. Two tribes - the Great Yoke and the Ore Crushers, live in the flank to the North
of the Giantspires' High Pass (not to be confused with the Impilturian High Pass in the Earthspurs below Lake
Icemelt).
Three more tribes, the Piercing Tide, the Rock Slashers and the Stone Hammers, occupy the northeastern side
of the flank of the Giantspires south of the High Pass. The largest and most powerful of the tribes, the Lightning
Fists, alone controls the southwestern face of the mountains.
For the last few years, the Bloodstone Kingdom, Impiltur and the Great Dale have been waging a war against
the hobgoblin khanate, one that has been only marginally fruitful to date. Due to heavy losses, the three nations
recently began attempting to seal in the hobgoblins rather than to destroy them in battle.
Human magi have caused explosions and rockslides to seal the passes the hobgoblins could use to mount a
mass invasion. However, Khan Redeye has his own powerful magi. It is conceivable that he could reopen a
pass at anytime, making an invasion of some part of Soravia, Narfell or the Great Dale possible at all times,
although the latter is unlikely.
A march into Rawlinswood of the Great Dale would bring the hobgoblins up against the mysterious and powerful
Nentyarch, a confrontation that Redeye probably would prefer to avoid. The hobgoblin khan already has sent
several expeditions into the Nentyarch's domain, but no hobgoblin ever has returned.
Ogres
Although ogres can make considerable trouble, they are not a key threat in the Bloodstone Lands. There are an
estimated 5,000 of them in the West Galenas over Vaasa and Thar, but most tend to be leading their own
bands of orcs rather than working together, and many of these tend to have their orc bands fighting against one
another. As the situation currently stands, there is no likelihood that ogres themselves would lead an attack
upon the Bloodstone Lands, although they might be mobilized by a greater power to do so.
The ogres also have the problem that a magical force has been siphoning off some of them and drawing them
to the ruins of Castle Perilous, where they vanish. Sammaster and Kargmelchina are drawing the ogres there
too, to turn them into Realms draconians.
Orcs
There are large concentrations of this race in the Giantspires, the Western Galenas above Vaasa and Thar, in
the Earthspurs over southern Damara and Impiltur and in the Vast, but only the latter are their own bosses.
Fortunately for the Bloodstone Kingdom, the settlements of the Vast tend to be their main target.
An estimated 80,000 to 90,000 orcs, many former servants of Zhengyi, are in the Western Galenas, but they are
divided up into bands that constantly war with one another, a situation due to the severe food shortages there.
A few years ago Zhentarim magi blasted many of the trails that orc bands could use to descend the mountains.
As a result, raids are difficult to mount.
Many of the orc bands are involuntarily under the control of ogres in the West Galenas. Those in the
Giantspires are little more than slaves to the ruling hobgoblins there. The same is true for orcs in the vicinity of
the hobgoblin city of Karadâzh in the northern Earthspurs, where they are under the thumb of hobgoblin War
Chancellor Radahnzâgh.
The orcs too have the problem that a magical force has been siphoning off bands of them and drawing them to
the ruins of Castle Perilous, where they vanish. Sammaster and Kargmelchina also are drawing the goblins
there to turn them into Realms draconians.
4.3 Key Organizations in the Bloodstone Kingdom
Bloodstone Army
The kingdom's host is divided into regional militia brigades, with one in each of the duchies and baronies.
These are commanded by the local duke or baron, or the burgomaster in the case of the Free City of
Heliogabalus.
In addition, King Gareth commands a brigade in his own service that is stationed in the Monastery of the Golden
Cup in Bloodstone Pass, Prince Quillan has his own brigade in Heliogabalus, and Prince Darren commands
another in Darmshall. The largest units at present are under the command of Duke Olwen of Soravia, who
together with Impiltur is fighting the hobgoblins of the Giantspires.
All of the princely, ducal and baronial brigades recognize King Gareth as their high commander in times of war.
The larger units within the brigades include fighters, paladins (most of them Ilmatari), rogues with scouting
talents, magi or sorcerers and priests (most of them serving Ilmater, Tempus or Tymora).
The major units of the Bloodstone Army are:
Command Brigade: Monastery of the Golden cup

• 1st Regiment with 3 Battalions, Monastery of the Golden cup
• 2nd Regiment with 2 Battalions, Bloodstone Village, 3rd Battalion, Windless
Princely Brigade of Damara:
Headquarters:
Bloodfeathers Garrison, Heliogabalus
• 1st Regiment: Headquarters, 1st and 2nd Battalion, Bloodfeathers Garrison, Heliogabalus. 3rd Battalion,
Valls
• 2nd Regiment: Headquarters and 1st Battalion, Fort Kane, 2nd Battalion, Goliad. 3rd Battalion, Ostrav
• 3rd Regiment: Headquarters, 1st and 2nd Battalions, Ravensburg. 3rd Battalion, Zarach
• 4th Regiment: Headquarters, 1st Battalion, Kinbrace, 2nd Battalion, Tokard, 3rd Battalion, Cutrock
• 5th Regiment: Headquarters and 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions, Cutrock.
Princely Brigade of Vaasa:
Headquarters:
Garrison, Darmshall
• 1st Regiment: Headquarters, 1st and 2nd Battalion, Garrison, Darmshall. 3rd Battalion, Gatehold
• 2nd Regiment: Headquarters, 1st and 2nd Battalion, Garrison, Hillsafar Hall. 3rd Battalion, Southgate
• 3rd Regiment: Headquarters, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions, Garrison, Ironspur
• 4th Regiment: Headquarters, 1st and 2nd Battalion, Garrison, Palischuk. 3rd Battalion, Gatehold
• 5th Regiment: Headquarters and 1st Battalion, Garrison, Swampgate, 2nd and 3rd Battalions, Moortown
Bloodstone Riders
This organization is divided into two branches that cooperate with one another. Myrddin Viligoth leads the
Damaran element, which reports to Prince Quillan in Heliogabalus. Mariabronne commands the Vaasan
branch, which reports to Prince Darren in Darmshall.
The Bloodstone Riders grew out of the merger of the Twilight Riders and Spysong. It is modeled somewhat
upon the Heralds of Imphras II in Impiltur. The Bloodstone Riders have the following missions:
• Protect and assure law and order in the smaller settlements and rural areas of the kingdom.
• Bring news of the kingdom to the people.
• Bring news of the people and doings of the kingdom to the king, the princes and their nobles.
Early in the Year of Wild Magic (1372 DR), the Bloodstone Riders included more than 80 rangers, 100 fighters,
40 magi and sorcerers, 40 priests, 20 rogues with scouting abilities and 18 bards.

This clandestine organization originally was founded by former Burgomaster Rulmgar to root out thieves and
other criminals operating in Heliogabalus. Many of its members had been with Tightpurse. The leader of the
Crooked Key today is Burgomaster Gillan Dendy, who was one of the Key's top operatives in Rulmgar's time.
The Crooked Key is focused largely upon the activities of the Iron Throne in the Damaran capital, although it
would deal with the Zhentarim too, were it aware of the Black Network's activities.
The current membership - all secret agents - includes some 60 thieves, eight bards and 10 magi and sorcerers
as well as two priests of Tymora. The Key operates primarily in Heliogabalus.
Harpers
Both the Shadowdale faction of the Harpers and the Twilight Hall faction from Berdusk are active in the
Bloodstone Kingdom.
The Shadowdale faction settled Stormstar in the Stormhaven Hills of Soravia. The apparent leader of the group
is Felice Assumbrar, the epic wizardess of Mosstone Tower. This faction strongly supports Duke Olwen and
also supports King Gareth and his kingdom, as it currently is organized into semi-autonomous duchies and
baronies. However, the Soravian Harpers - who take no great pains to hide their Harper membership -
frequently warn against forming ties that are too close with the Impilturian kingdom.
The Twilight Hall faction from Berdusk is somewhat more skeptical about the inclusion of Damara and Vaasa
into one large kingdom and even more skeptical about the alliance between the Bloodstone and Impilturian
kingdoms.
The Twilight Hall Harpers try to keep their affiliation secret, although with little success. Their stronghold is
Highsong in southwestern Vaasa. They basically are loyal to the Bloodstone Kingdom, the Princedom of Vaasa
and the Duchy of Sunderland, but they do their best to issue their warnings against the dangers of great
empires.
Iron Throne
The highly secretive Iron Throne, centered in Sembia, is led by a covert triumvirate. The strongest of the three
is Dalton Krenn in Sembian Ordulin. The two others are Shandaril in Damaran Heliogabalus and Hagurd, also
in Sembia. The latter is a double agent in the service of the Zhentarim who reports directly to Fzoul Chembryl in
Zhentil Keep.
Shandaril, who goes under the name of Madeleine Tiegarth in Heliogabalus, is the head of Throne activities in
the Bloodstone Kingdom, Impiltur, the Great Dale and the Vast. The major Throne centers in her domain are
Heliogabalus, New Sarshel in the Great Dale and Calaunt in the Vast. Her No. 2 is her consort, Titus Traud in
Heliogabalus.
No one in the Bloodstone Kingdom other than Traud is aware of Shandaril's true identity or of her role in the
Throne. Only three high ranking underlings - one in Heliogabalus, one in New Sarshel and another in Calaunt -
are aware of Traud's role in the Throne.
Shandaril has her branch of the Throne tightly organized to preclude identification of the hierarchy. No leader at
any level is known by more than three subordinates, or at least Shandaril and Traud believe this. The
Zhentarim slowly is building a picture of the lower and middle echelons of the Throne in the Bloodstone
Kingdom through infiltration, and the Crooked Key also has pieced together a few low to middle echelon chains
of command.
The Throne's key weakness is Hagurd in Ordulin, the Zhentarim double agent who passes on most critical
information on the Throne to Fzoul Chembryl in Zhentil Keep.
In spring of the Year of Wild Magic (1372 DR), the Throne has gotten its tentacles into almost all significant
levels of business in the Bloodstone Kingdom, through purchase, partial ownership, monopolistic market
practices, pressure tactics and the like.
Moonsea Assurance
The Zhentarim insurance protection racket is described in the section on the Zhentarim.
Zhentarim
As the Year of Wild Magic (1372 DR) begins, the Zhentarim also is headed by a triumvirate. NOTE: This is at
variance with the official narrative on the Black Network since the introduction of the accessory Cloak and
Dagger by WotC in 1999. For full information on the Northern Journey version of the Zhentarim and a
description of the differences, see the Northern Journey Campaign Guide.
Manshoon still heads the Black Network from the Citadel of the Raven, but the High Tyrannar of Iyachtu Xvim in
Zhentil Keep, Fzoul Chembryl, has bypassed Sememmon and risen to the No. 2 position. He continues to rise.
Chembryl has developed the entire new strategy of the Zhentarim for the years following the Time of Troubles
and the destruction of Zhentil Keep.
Sememmon has been reduced to the lowest spot in the triumvirate and slowly is becoming something of a
provincial Zhentarim lord whose opinion is sought ever less in the upper ruling circle. On the other side of the
coin, he is becoming ever more involved in secret dealings with drow and with the undead in the Land of the
Lich Lords.
Manshoon and Chembryl are not yet aware of this, and Sememmon intends to keep it that way. His hope is to
use the profits of these dealings to increase his own magical power to then point where he is a match for
Manshoon.
NOTE: Further details on the Northern

Journey concepts of the Zhentarim and
Sememmon can be found in the Northern
Journey Campaign Guide, NJ Part 3
Backlands, NJ Part 4 Tale of 2 Liches and
optional NJ Part 8 In the Land of the Lich
Lords, available for free Internet download
at: http://www.vintyri.com .
The operations of the Black Network in the Bloodstone Kingdom are steered entirely by Chembryl from Zhentil
Keep, a fact that makes it extremely difficult for both the Crooked Key of Heliogabalus and the Iron Throne to
learn what the Zhentarim is doing.
None of the Zhentish units active in the Bloodstone Kingdom are aware of one another, nor is there any local
command structure. All work directly under Chembryl in Zhentil Keep. Messengers from the keep travel to and
from the Bloodstone Kingdom with his orders, and, when necessary, Chembryl also can communicate magically
with his more important operatives.
As a result, the capture of one or more Zhentarim operatives leads even in the best case to little more than the
information that the prisoners are indeed Zhentarim as well as a description of their orders. Because their
commands come directly from the Heart of the Hand Temple in Zhentil Keep, the leadership simply is out of
local reach. The smashing of one Zhentarim operation in the Bloodstone Kingdom, therefore, usually has no
impact upon other operations of the Black Network.
The following Zhentarim operations currently are in full gear in the Bloodstone Kingdom:
• Moonsea Assurance, the Zhentarim insurance company and protection racket, is gaining an increasing
number of contracts with companies and entrepreneurs who run caravans between the Bloodstone
Kingdom and the Moonsea Region. In the Year of the Unstrung Harp (1371 DR), both the Iron Throne
front Fallen Star Trading and the Damaran Merchants League signed insurance contracts with Moonsea
Assurance. The operations now has its headquarters in Heliogabalus with branch offices in Asfaloth,
Highsong, Darmshall, Gatehold, Bloodstone Village, Ironspur, Ostrav and Lenchford as well as Twilight's
Veil, Threshold and Mulmaster outside of the Kingdom.
• Assassin bands, led by disguised assassin monks of Iyachtu Xvim, operate in Heliogabalus, Praka,
Bloodstone Village, Asfaloth and Darmshall. They now have a monopoly on the assassin's trade and
receive the Iron Throne's contracts, although the Throne is unaware of the Zhentarim connection.
• Zhentarim financial agents operate in several locations within the Bloodstone Kingdom, above all in
Heliogabalus. Their mission is to bribe key people in Damaran and Vaasan business operations to skim
profits, to infiltrate business with Zhentarim agents and to acquire financial interests in some businesses.
Their key targets are operations of the Iron Throne.
4.4 Geographical Locations in and near

the Bloodstone Kingdom
Forests
FR = official site, NJ = unofficial Northern Journey site.
Earthwood (FR)
This small forest is in southern Damara north of Lake Icemelt on the border with Impiltur. Old legends say that
ancient druids enchanted the forest to defend it against the growing Great Glacier and that it remained
unchanged when Pelvuria surrounded it. It is said that monsters of all sorts shun the Earthwood.
Economic Use: Some woodsmen live in the forest, but it is otherwise unpopulated. Pines and spruces are
logged on the northern edge of the wood. The timber is sawed in Tomrav and Sudrav. Most of the lumber is
used locally for construction.
Goblinwood (FR)
This wild forest takes its name from the hobgoblins that control the Giantspire Mountains, which rise from the
wood's eastern edge. Druids and rangers who know its ways report that the Goblinwood is as beautiful as it is
dangerous. The wood has served as a lair for Zhengyi's minions, raiding hobgoblins from the Acragash
Khanate, brigands and other vile creatures.
Due to the heavy military action along the foot of the Giantspires, that is diminishing. The evil beings in the
forest now are cut off from the Giantspires, and many of them have fallen unintentionally into the hands of
Soravian and Impilturian patrols guarding the foot of the Giantspires.
Economic Use: None at present. In more peaceful times, there usually are some logging operations on the
western edge of the Goblinwood.
Lakewood (NJ)
The forest on the north shore of Lake Mogador occupies about 85% of the land in the Damaran Barony of
Morov. Traditionally, the fine hardwoods of the forest also have been one of Morov's main commodities. When
the now defunct Tightpurse thieves' guild in Heliogabalus was at the zenith of its success, it maintained a
winding, labyrinth-like series of trails with traps throughout the wood.
Tightpurse thieves who fled pursuers from Heliogabalus could slip into the Lakewood, lose those chasing them,
slip out again at another point and return to the capital. The pursuers, however, often found themselves in deep
trouble within the forest.
In Zhengyi's time, some monsters also laired in the wood at times, but they were driven from it long ago. The
Lakewood is one of the safest forests in the Bloodstone Kingdom, but it's hardly the kind of place where
mothers would want their children to play.
When Tightpurse was destroyed, many of the surviving thieves went over to serve former Burgomaster Rulmgar
in the Crooked Key of Heliogabalus. But some continued thieving, as they had been all the rest of their lives.
At first, they operated alone but soon formed bands.
Although no one has succeeded in forming a thieves' guild again in Heliogabalus since the fall of Tightpurse,
many of the thieves in the city once were members of Tightpurse. They know their way through the Lakewood
and use it now just as they did before.
However, this is becoming more difficult. The late Baron Dimian Ree had dreams of one day eliminating the
forest and turning its floor into farmland. Toward that end, he began cutting timber from the forest's edges and
moving inward, selling the fallen trees for lumber.
Economic Use: Baron Celedon knows better after his experiences with druids and rangers than to follow Ree's
example. Under Baron Celedon's rule, select timber cutting is done, and Morovian lumberjacks now work
deeper in the forests than they did in Ree's day. This is causing the destruction of many of the thieves' trails
and traps. The fine hardwoods of the Lakewood are one of Damara's two primary sources of timber and
lumber.
In addition, both the Damaran Merchants League and the guildmasters of Heliogabalus are hiring mercenaries
and adventurers to deal with thieves in the Lakewood. This can, of course, be a good opportunity for PCs to
earn some extra money. From Baron Celedon's point of view, the days of thieves and evil in the Lakewood are
numbered.
Rawlinswood (FR)
This huge and often dangerous forest is in the Great Dale, although the Duchy of Soravia
nominally claims the part of the wood northwest of the Lench River. However, Soravia never
has done anything to assert that claim or to attempt to rule that part of the wood. Lenchbugar,
the main settlement on the Soravian side, considers itself to be a free settlement of the Great
Dale.
Western Rawlinswood is the domain of the Tellerth Druids Circle. The central wood is
dangerous, being within the domain of the Nentyarch. The full details on Rawlinswood can be
found in The Great Dale, Part 6 of Northern Journey.
Economic Use: The fine hardwoods of the Rawlinswood are one of Damara's two primary sources of timber
and lumber. The largest logging operations are in the Great Dale, but the Barony of Polten and the Duchy of
Soravia own and operate the Soravian-Polten Timberworks in Tellerth, which logs the northern edge of
Rawlinswood under the guidance of the Tellerth Druids Circle. Soravian-Polten Timberworks is the biggest
logging operation in the Bloodstone Kingdom.
Snowwood (NJ)
This thick forest is in mostly unpopulated land in western Arcata below the haunted ruins of Monte Veldelio.
Few persons have approached it in modern times. Most who have entered it have been druids and rangers
who describe it as a dark, dank and gloomy wood with an undetermined evil permeating it. Some of them
believe that evil may emanate from treants gone bad. Others believe that whatever slew the folk of Monte
Veldelio and made ghosts of them is the source of that evil. Whatever, there is a hostile air to Snowwood, and
the waters of its streams are fouled and dangerous to drink.
Economic Use: Logging takes place on the western edge of the Snowwood.
Lakes, Rivers & Swamps

Monsters: Swamp monsters including some trolls can be found in the Vaasan swamps. There are less likely in
Damara. The Damaran rivers are less than four centuries old and have had little time to develop water monster
populations.
Beaumaris River (FR)
The Beaumaris is the longest river of the Bloodstone Kingdom. Its source is the Lake of Ice in the northwestern
corner of Vaasa. It flows from there to the southeast, through Bloodstone Pass, then southward and back to the
Northeast to Goliad, where the Goliad River flows into it. It then runs from Goliad to Lake Mogador. The
Beaumaris flows out of the lake near Praka and Trailsend southward into Impiltur. South of its confluence with
the Sidewinder south of Zarach, it is known as the Great Imphras River.
Throughout most of its course in Vaasa, the Beaumaris is little more than a wide, deep (to 6 feet/180 cm)
stretch of bog and swamp. Only southeast of Gatehold does it begin to look more like a conventional stream. It
runs narrow (average 15 feet/450 cm), deep (to 10 feet/3 m) and fast through the pass, but then spreads out (up
to 80 feet/24 m wide) and becomes shallow (18 inches to 3 feet/50 to 100 cm) as its winds its way between
Arcata, Carmathan and Brandiar. Only small rowboats, canoes and rafts can use this stretch of the Beaumaris.
That changes at Goliad, where the wide and deep Goliad River flows into the Beaumaris and the combined
flood begins its more rapid descent into Lake Mogador. In the warm season, there is relatively heavy lake boat
traffic between Heliogabalus and Trailsend on the lake in the South and Goliad in the North, with traffic also
reaching the harbors and docks at Heliogabalus, Wassen and Southwatch. This southern leg of the Beaumaris
has an average width of about 80 feet/24 m and an average depth of 15 to 20 feet/4½ to 6 meters.
Economic Use: Fishing is widespread along the Damaran part of the Beaumaris in populated areas. In some
areas, raftsmen also guide floating logs downstream. As mentioned, there also is heavy commercial traffic
between Goliad and the lake. There also is passenger traffic between Lake Mogador and Goliad, which then
continues upstream on the Goliad to Ironspur.
NOTE: FR9 The Bloodstone Lands describes the Beaumaris as flowing to Goliad, where it flows into the
Goliad. Although such naming decisions are not without precedent in the real world, they are an
exception. Usually, a river below a confluence keeps the name of the longest stream above the
confluence. For this reason, Northern Journey describes the stretch from Goliad to Lake Mogador as the
Beaumaris rather than as the Goliad.
Butcher Swamp (NJ)
This unnaturally dangerous swamp is located in southern Carmathan, just north of the White Worm Way and
Halfling Downs between the ducal seat of Ravensburg and the settlement of Zarach in Ostel (see the village
map of Halfling Downs). The swamp is a series of sinkholes and springs left in the wake of the receding Great
Glacier. One can assume that the swamp has been dangerous for a long time, but when the cantankerous
halfling Wells Codington settled Halfling Downs some two centuries ago, it became even more dangerous.
The halfling chieftain seeded the swamp with butcher fish (for details see the Northern Journey Campaign
Guide) to provide additional protection to Codington's Diggings, as Halfling Downs was called in its earlier days.
It was Impiltur's good luck that the many brooks and streams flowing out of the swamps come together in three
creeks that flow into the White Worm River. The waters of all three creeks flow down steep waterfalls which the
butcher fish cannot pass. Were that not the case, all of the Great Imphras River in Impiltur probably would be
infested with butcher fish.
Anyone who wanders into these swamps, regardless of the season, has little hope of escaping them. The
swamp waters not only are home to the lethal butcher fish but also poisonous snakes and leeches, and there
are hidden quicksand pits everywhere. Some solitary shambling mounds also are believed to live underground
along the swamp's edges. One such shambling mound broke out of the swamp and made it into Halfling Downs
in the Year of the Turret (1360 DR), creating havoc there until the Twilight Riders destroyed it.
In winter, the swamp is only slightly safer. There are many warm springs on the swamp's floor. As a result, the
ice on the surface is thin in these areas, and the butcher fish and other dangerous swamp creatures tend to
congregate above these springs. As a result, anyone who breaks through the ice and falls into the water
probably will be eaten alive in less than a minute's time, saving him or her from freezing to death.
Butcher Swamp has but a single saving grace: In the 350 some years that it has existed, it has managed to
escape the attention of possible migrant trolls and black dragons.
Economic Use: None.
Galena Snake River (FR)
The twisting stream flows from the East Galenas northeast of Justin's Mine into the Icelace River near Soravian
Steppenhall. From Mirtul through mid-Flamerule, when snow and ice melt in the foothills of the East Galenas,
the Galena Snake rushes southward. Its width varies from 20 to 60 feet/6 to 18 meters, and its depth varies
between a yard/meter and 10 feet/3 m. After mid-Flamerule, many stretches gradually run all but dry. The
width dwindles to between a yard and 20 feet/1 to 6 meters, and its depth ranges between 10 inches/25
centimeters and 9 feet/270 cm.
Economic Use: When the Galena Snake runs high and fast, only experienced canoers can navigate it. At other
times, it can support raft traffic, but there has been in fact little use by rafts since improvement of the Pioneer
Trail.
Goliad River (FR)
The Goliad is Damara's most important river in terms of economics. Its source is in the East Galenas above
Ironspur. Although its course from the source to the dwarven halls is relatively short, the many mountain
tributaries that flow into the Goliad above Ironspur already fatten the flood into a mighty stream at Ironspur,
where it is 25 feet/7.5 m wide and as much as 8 feet/240 cm deep.
As a result, heavy river traffic begins in Ironspur, where Soravian boats and barges deliver food, grain, leather
wares and other merchandise to the dwarves and bring Ironspur metals and the products of the dwarven
smithies back down stream.
At Goliad, where the river flows into the Beaumaris, it has an average width of about 70 feet/21 m and an
average depth of 12 to 15 feet/3½ to 4½ meters.
Economic Use: Most wares traveling between Ironspur and Goliad ride the river. It is safer and less expensive
to run river boats on this route than it would be to use land-based caravans, although the latter also exist.
There also is regular passenger traffic on the Goliad.
Great Imphras River (FR)
The Great Imphras is a continuation of the Beaumaris-Goliad network after flowing through Lake Mogador.
Unlike the Goliad, however, the Great Imphras is difficult to navigate. The Great Imphras roars southward
through the deep canyon pass of the Earthspurs into Impiltur, with the Sidewinder flowing into it from Arcata and
Carmathan and the Lench (sometimes also incorrectly called the Sidewinder) and River Icehilt emptying into it
north of Impilturian Traders Bay. There are many long stretches of dangerous, roaring rapids between Lake
Mogador and the confluence with the Lench in Impiltur.
Economic Use: Despite the dangers of the rapids and the Earthspurs' monster populations, the factor of speed
once led to large quantities of bloodstone being transported from Damara into Impiltur upon rafts on the Great
Imphras. That has changed since Zhengyi's time. Both the Royal Damaran Bloodstone Trust and Iron-Throne-
dominated bloodstone operations deliver bloodstone bars with less time pressure these days, and they prefer to
avoid the losses that occurred in the past when bloodstone-laden rafts collapsed on the Great Imphras. Today,
the little remaining raft traffic is limited largely to smuggling, much of it in service of the Iron Throne.
Icelace Lake (FR)
The Icelace is a pristine wilderness lake teeming with fish. It is the province of the Nar tribes and is not used by
neighboring Soravians.
Economic Use: None.
Icelace River (FR)
The Icelace is a frigid, fast rapids, varying in width from 6 to 15 feet/2 to 5 meters, with a depth varying from 3 to
10 feet/1 to 3 meters.
Economic Use: There is little traffic on the Icelace during most of the year, but in summer, as various crops are
brought in, Soravian raftsmen who can steer their way down the dangerous stream take advantage of its speed
to rush their crops to Steppenhall and to markets in the cities and settlements on Lake Mogador.
Lake Midai (FR)
This beautiful body of water is not a genuine lake but rather a widening of the Beaumaris River. Midai is about
a mile/1.5 km wide and more than 4 miles/6.5 km long. Its depth is unknown.
Economic Use: Lake Midai's most important role is as a source of fish for the settlements of Bloodstone Pass.
Lake Mogador (FR)
Mogador too is not a genuine lake but rather a huge confluence of the Beaumaris (Goliad) and Icelace rivers,
where they merge into the Great Imphras. It reaches its maximum width of 5 miles/8 km between Heliogabalus
and Withermeet. It is about 25 miles/40 km long between the Beaumaris and the Great Imphras. Its depth is
unknown.
Economic Use: Lake Mogador is a bustling center of boat traffic, bearing a wide variety of goods as well as
passengers between the lake settlements and up and down the Beaumaris to Goliad and then on the Goliad
beyond to Ironspur.
Lench (FR)
Some people call the Lench the Sidewinder, viewing it illogically as an extension of the genuine Sidewinder to
the northwest, which flows through Arcata, Carmathan and Ostel into the Great Imphras. The Lench has its
source in the southeastern hobgoblin domain of the Giantspire Mountains. It flows through Rawlinswood,
marking the border between Soravia and the Great Dale, according to unasserted Damaran claims. The few
people on this part of the Lench view all of Rawlinswood as being a non-Damaran part of the Great Dale. More
important, this stretch of the Lench is the dividing line between the domains of the Tellerth Druids Circle and the
mysterious Nentyarch in Rawlinswood. Southwest of Rawlinswood, the Lench forms the officially recognized
and asserted border between Damara and Impiltur.
Economic Use: Almost none. The Rawlinswood stretch of the Lench is not navigable due to frequent rapids
and shallows. Rafts can use the stretch between Lenchford and Impilturian Traders Bay, but such freighting
would make little economic sense. The Lench's only economic contribution is from the modest fish catch
between Lenchford and the eave of Rawlinswood.
Sidewinder (FR)
The river has its icy source on the Glacier of the White Worm. It roars down the West Galena and flows through
southern Arcata, Carmathan and Ostel into the Great Imphras. Rapids are frequent on the Sidewinder, limiting
traffic to rafts.
Economic Use: Timber and coal from Sudrav and Tomrav are rafted down the Sidewinder to Ravensburg and
Zarach, and there is a modest amount of commercial fishing along the river. Some freight also is rafted from
Ravensburg to Zarach.
Vaasan Bogs (FR)
The bogs are ice in winter and endless pits of foul water and quicksand in summer, where trolls feel at home.
Economic Use: Basically, none. There are ancient tales of magical hot springs in the bogs with waters that
duplicate the effects of some magical potions. Occasionally, adventurers venture into the bogs in search of
these springs. There are no known reports of success. On the contrary, few bands of bog adventurers ever
have returned.
Mountains & Hills

East Galena Mountains (FR)
The East Galenas are rich in bloodstone, gold, silver and iron ore. Except for the walls of Bloodstone Pass,
which are in the Damaran Barony of Bloodstone, the East Galenas now are within the borders of the Princedom
of Vaasa. The mountains northeast of Bloodstone Pass form the Duchy of Ironspur. Those southwest of the
pass are in the Barony of Sunderland, and they include the Vaasan capital of Darmshall.
Until Zhengyi's fall, the ability of dwarves and men to mine the great treasures of the East Galenas was severely
limited by the great monster populations in the eastern range. With the defeat of Zhengyi, the grandfathers of
the assassins and the erection of Shandaril's Tower of Feeblemindedness, this threat has diminished, although
there are some bands of goblinkind that have succeeded in resisting the tower. As always, some small bands
of bandits also remain in the range.
However, the main obstacles for prospectors now are weather and the jagged and broken surfaces of the
mountains themselves, which make travel through them very difficult. That notwithstanding, there are many
who see the East Galenas as a range that will pour untold riches onto the Bloodstone Kingdom in the coming
decades, gradually making of it one of Faerûn's wealthiest nations.
Earthspur Mountains (FR)
The Earthspurs form the southwestern corner of the Bloodstone Kingdom. The Glacier of the White Worm
defines the borderline between the Earthspurs and the West Galenas. There are strong signs that this range
too could yield a fortune in iron and silver, but it is unlikely that there will be huge mining operations in the
Earthspurs in the foreseeable future.
The highest peaks reach above 20,000 feet/6,000 meters and are covered in snow and ice year round. The
same is true of many of the shadowed mountain valleys that otherwise could serve as passes for the
transportation of precious metals and ore. In addition, most of the Earthspurs are controlled by highly organized
and disciplined hobgoblin tribes that would not tolerate heavy surface mining by humans or dwarves, at least
not without negotiations.
Impilturian Dunfee and Damaran Tomrav and Sudrav are the only significant human settlements in the
Earthspurs. Renegade Earthfast dwarves from Impiltur mine near their Dwarfhold of Lharrin northwest of the
High Pass near the foot of the Glacier of the White Worm. (The Dwarfhold is an invention of Dr. Jeffrey David
Bray.) There also are several small gold and silver mines belonging to individual prospectors in the lower
eastern peaks of the Earthspurs east of the Great Imphras and south of the White Worm River.
Enchanted Hills (NJ)

Based upon the invention of Simon Gibbs
The frosty hills south of Pelvuria are largely uninhabited, except for the monastery of Auril's church, the White
Retreat. Duke Olwen has declared it to be a Soravian Nature Preserve and has banned grazing, hunting,
fishing and even trespassing there, with the monastery's clergy excluded from the ban.
Frost hangs over the Enchanted Hills into late spring and returns again early, usually by mid-Eleint. This
doubtless is due in part to the influence of the glacier, but most sages believe that the magic of the
Icepriestesses plays a role in the matter.
The Enchanted Hills are stony with only small pockets of soil in the depressions. Vegetation is limited to hardy
pines and scrubby brush. Agriculture in the hills is limited to some illegal sheep grazing on the western side,
above the Galena Snake. To date, the duke has taken no action against the illegal shepherds.
Giantspire Mountains (FR)
The Bloodstone Kingdom and the Duke of Soravia would love dearly to bring this ore-rich range in the barbarian
land of Narfell under their control, but it is in the firm hands of the hobgoblin Acragash Khanate - 200,000 strong
- led by Khan Tem Redeye. Soravia and Impiltur have joined forces in recent years to wage a continuing war
upon the Khanate, but they've gained little ground.
The two armies have sealed off the foot of the range in the north, west and south, and the Soravians now
control the Cutrock Mine, but attempts to regain Howser's Mine in the northeast have been futile. The human
armies have made no significant dent to date in the hobgoblin khan's lines beyond the conquest of Cutrock.
Glacier of the White Worm (FR)
Why this remnant of Pelvuria remains some 400 miles/650 km south of the Great Glacier is a bit of a mystery.
Most sages assume that magic of some sort is behind it. The Glacier is home to herds of remorhaz, other polar
creatures and the Ilmatari monks of the Monastery of the Yellow Rose. It is not claimed by any nation below the
mountains.
Stormhaven Hills (FR)

Based upon the invention of Simon Gibbs
Before Zhengyi's time, the Stormhavens were home only to isolated shepherds. The hills conceal perhaps the
oldest mystery in all of the Cold Lands. Within the hills are the ruins of Mhaernos. What Mhaernos was always
has been a mystery. No sage or history claims to know what existed in the lands covered by the pre-glacial
Cold Ocean, which also covered Mhaernos at least 6,300 years ago.
Mhaernos appears to have been a huge complex in the middle of the hills that once may have been both a
center of government and a center of learning. Ancient chiseling clearly defines the site as a place which was
called Mhaernos by someone, a fact that seems to prove that there also was a pre-oceanic period, unless, of
course, Mhaernos was an underwater site.
After Zhengyi's fall, a group of Shadowdale faction Harpers founded the settlement of Stormstar at the
northwestern foot of the hills. They were followed by the Harper epic wizardess, Lady Felice Assumbrar, who
built her Mosstone Tower in the hills east of Stormstar.
The hills are fertile on the north side but rockier and stony in the middle and the south. The large Mother's Star
Monastery of non-combatant monks of Chauntea, which is protected by the Harpers in Stormstar, makes
extensive use of the hills, grazing sheep in the barren southern part and planting and tending to ever expanding
fruit orchards in the north. The trees are mostly hardy apple varieties.
The ruins of Mhaernos in the Stormhavens were brought dramatically back to attention in the Year of the Shield
(1367 DR), when a series of explosions occurred directly in the ruins. Lady Felice Assumbrar headed into the
ruins after the explosions, to determine what had occurred, but she found nothing of meaning there except
damage from the explosions and signs of demonic or devil activity.
Although none knew it, the explosions were caused when demons trapped beneath eastern Soravia detected a
weak spot below the ruins of Mhaernos in the magic that barred their entry into Faerûn. Their unsuccessful
attempt to overcome that magic caused the explosions.
Suncatcher Mountain (FR)
The highest peak in the Galenas - at 26,000 feet/7.925 meters - always is capped by snow and usually is
shrouded in clouds. The almost inaccessible peak is rumored to be a source of great mineral wealth, although
sages have argued for years that there is no evidence whatsoever to support this claim. Many hunters of
fortune have attempted to scale Suncatcher from the Moonsea side, but none ever has succeeded.
Those who have climbed to the higher levels of Suncatcher from the Moonsea side always have been foiled
within 500 yards/meters of the summit, when the slightest noise or disturbance has set off a chain of murderous
avalanches.
However, there is a natural but precariously dangerous foot trail to the top that some explorers succeeded in
using to reach the peak before Zhengyi's time. The route leads over three mountain ridges that have an
average height of about 18,000 feet/5,500 meters and form the notorious Triple Ridge. These ridges too always
are covered by snow at least a yard/meter deep.
No one is known to have made the climb across the Triple Ridge to Suncatcher's peak since Zhengyi's time.
Shortly after the fall of Castle Perilous, folk in the lands below at times began catching glimpses through the
clouds of castle towers that appeared to have materialized atop Suncatcher. Since then, dragons lairing in the
ruins of Castle Perilous have been seen flying to and from the peak.
Suncatcher is the site of the magically built Castle Dragonblood occupied by Sammaster and Kargmelchina
along with the Realms draconians who serve them and the vampire dragons who do their bidding.
Game masters who are running the Northern Journey adventure should note that all PCs who have died in the
campaign to date haunt the Triple Ridge as ghosts. They still can feel cold and are being tortured there by frost
at the will of Kargmelchina and Sammaster, because they have failed in their mission.
Triple Ridge (NJ)
These three mountain ridges on the northwestern end of the East Galenas just below Suncatcher Mountain
have an average height of about 18,000 feet/5.500 meters. These ridges always are covered by snow at least a
yard/meter deep, but they provide the only known trail to the peak of Suncatcher. (For more information, see
the description of Suncatcher Mountain).
West Galena Mountains (FR)
The West Galenas are a no man's land between Vaasa and Thar. They are claimed by no civilized nation and
have few settlements. There are only the two trails and passes from the Moonsea region - Garumn's Climb with
the Twilight's Veil settlement and Gramble's Climb with the Threshold settlement.
The mountains north of Garumn's Climb are dangerous, with a population of some 200,000 giants, ogres, orcs
and goblins. Many of them were Zhengyi's servants before the Witch King's defeat. At present, they pose little
threat to Vaasa because they are ill organized and often fight with one another. In addition, Zhentarim magi
years ago blasted most of the mountain trails into oblivion that the monsters might have used to successfully
mount an invasion.
However, the monster population of the West Galenas could become dangerous again, were a powerful leader
to reunite it. Sammaster and Kargmelchina in Castle Dragonblood do not seem to be interested in doing that.
Instead, they are magically drawing bands of the monsters to the ruins of Castle Perilous, where they are
transforming them into Realms draconians.
Roads & Trails

Arcatan Highway (NJ)
This route runs from the Carmathian ducal seat of Ravensburg in the south to the Arcatan ducal seat of Valls
and then over Arcatan Ostrav on the Beaumaris to Windless in the Barony of Bloodstone. It is a secondary
road.
Conditions: The entire road is relatively well maintained. Wagons and riders can use it from Tarsakh through
Eleint. It is suitable for sleds from Marpenoth through mid-Uktar and in Ches. Its importance has grown since
Mulmaster opened Mulman Pass. All of the road except in the vicinity of settlements can be subject to bandit
attacks. Only well-armed groups and well-protected caravans should travel it.
Bloodstone Pass Trail (NJ)
The name applies not only to the pass but also is used for the road that runs through it, connecting the
princedoms of Damara and Vaasa. Relatively heavy commercial and military traffic use the road, which also
connects Goliad in Brandiar, Windless, Bloodstone Village, Virdin and the Damaran and Vaasan walls with one
another and provides access to the Bloodstone Mines and the Orothiar Clan's dwarven halls.
Conditions: The entire road is well maintained and can be considered safe. Wagons and riders can use it from
mid-Tarsakh through Eleint. It is suitable for sleds from Marpenoth through mid-Uktar and from Ches to mid-
Tarsakh.
Dead Man's Walk (FR)
Until Zhengyi's fall, the walk - treacherous as it is - was the only useable route from the Moonsea Region across
Vaasa. It still is an important artery, but it has lost ground to Gramble's Climb and Mulman Pass in the south.
The trail begins at Swampgate in the west and ends at Damara's Vaasan Wall, passing on its way alongside the
ruins of Moortown, through Gatehold and by Asfaloth, north of Nigel's Ford. Most traffic consists either of trade
with the Moonsea area or of Bloodstone Riders on patrol.
Conditions: Wagons and riders can pass over the mountains from early Kythorn until the end of Eleasias.
Wagons and riders can use the stretch between Swampgate and the Vaasan Wall from mid-Mirtul to the end of
Eleasias. Sleds can use this stretch most of the year, due to the low degree of winter precipitation in this area.
Only larger, well-armed groups can survive this trail, which is subject to bandit and monster attacks. Particularly
dangerous are attacks from swamp trolls in remote areas.
Druids Path (NJ)
The first part of this road, from Trailsend to Tellerth, is well maintained. It is any anything but a druids' path, as
the name suggests. It is the only substantial access to the border town of Tellerth on the edge of Rawlinswood.
The remainder of the route eastward, along the northern edge of Rawlinswood to Fort Imphras I and Fort
Imphras II, is a wilderness trail wide enough for two mounted riders going abreast.
Conditions: The Trailsend-Tellerth stretch bears relatively heavy traffic and has few dangers. The road is open
to wagons and riders from Tarsakh to the end of Eleint and can be used by sleds in Uktar and Ches. Heavy
snow usually keeps it closed from Nightal to the end of Alturiak.
Galena Ride (NJ)
This secondary trail runs directly beneath the southeastern wall of the East Galenas, connecting Windless in
Bloodstone Pass with Ironspur. It bears a modest level of commercial traffic.
Conditions: The trail is in fairly good condition. Wagons and riders usually can use the route from mid-Mirtul to
through Eleasias. In most years, sleds can cross it in Eleint, Marpenoth, Tarsakh and the first part of Mirtul.
Only larger, well-armed and well-protected groups should use the road. It is subject to bandit attacks.
Garumn's Climb (FR)
The old mountain pass once was the only way into Vaasa from the Moonsea Region. Although it still enjoys
respectable use, it has lost traffic to Gramble's Climb and the Mulman Pass, both in the south. None of the
climb is within the Bloodstone Kingdom. It ends at Vaasan Swampgate, where the trail becomes known as
Dead Man's Walk. There is but one settlement on the climb, Twilight's Veil.
Conditions: Wagons and riders can pass over the mountains from early Kythorn until the end of Eleasias. The
rest of the year, high snow usually closes the mountain trail. Only larger, well-armed groups can survive this
trail, which is subject to bandit and monster attacks.
Goblin Track (NJ)
This new road, used mainly for military and mining purposes, connects the Soravian ducal seat of Kinbrace with
the mines and outpost at Cutrock in Narfell.
Conditions: The road is of necessity well-maintained. It has to bear large troop movements and heavy mining
wagons. Wagons and riders usually can use it from Tarsakh to early Marpenoth. In most years, sleds can
cross it from mid-Marpenoth to mid-Uktar and again from mid-Alturiak to mid-Ches. Because of high snows, the
road usually is closed from mid-Uktar to mid-Ches. This stretch should be considered safe for well-armed
groups. There have been a few robberies on the trail, but because most traffic is accompanied by military
guards, bandits tend to avoid it.
Golden Boulevard (NJ)
Like the Merchants Run and the southern part of the Soravian Gateway, the boulevard is one of the Bloodstone
Kingdom's best maintained roads, and it certainly is its safest. It is the main commercial trunk within Damara,
crossing territory in Ostel, Morovar and Soravia as well as the Free City of Heliogabalus and ending in Brandiar.
It links Praka, Portith, Brotha, Heliogabalus, Morovar, Wassen, Southwatch and Goliad with one another. It
ends in the north where the new bridge over the Ford of Goliad leads it into Brandiar's ducal seat.
Before Zhengyi's time, this was called the King's Road, although it always has been known as the Golden
Boulevard in common speech. After being crowned, King Gareth asked Prince Quillan to change the name,
saying that the road belongs to the people, not the king. The prince complied and gave the road the official
name that the folk already had given it years earlier.
Conditions: The road is open to wagons and riders from Tarsakh to the end of Eleint and can be used by sleds
in Uktar and Ches. Heavy snow usually keeps it closed from Nightal to the end of Alturiak. The Golden
Boulevard is the safest road in the Bloodstone Kingdom.
Gramble's Climb (NJ)
This is an ancient trail that has been reopened since Zhengyi's fall in the drier, barren plain above the Vaasan
bogs. It has become an important commercial route, leading from the Moonsea Region over the West Galenas
and through Threshold, entering Vaasa and hence the Bloodstone Kingdom at Southgate. From there it passes
through Highsong and Mistover, ending at Darmshall. The name Gramble's Climb originally applied only to the
steep pass over the West Galenas, but the name is used now for the entire trail to Darmshall. In recent years,
much of the traffic which had gone over Garumn's Climb and Dead Man's Walk has moved southward to
Gramble's Climb.
Conditions: Wagons and riders can pass over the mountains from early Kythorn until the end of Eleasias. The
rest of the year, high snow usually closes the mountain trail. Wagons and riders can use the stretch between
Southgate and Darmshall from mid-Mirtul to the end of Eleasias. Sleds can use this stretch most of the year,
due to the low degree of winter precipitation in this area. Only larger, well-armed groups can survive this trail,
which is subject to bandit and monster attacks.
High Walk (FR)
The once-dangerous and treacherous mountain trail that connects Ironspur with Palishchuk is becoming an
ever more substantial and well-maintained road, one that bears a growing amount of commercial pack mule
traffic between the dwarven ducal seat in the south and the half-orc seat of the Vaasan barony.
Conditions: One can cross the High Walk from mid-Mirtul to early Eleint. In the Year of Rogue Dragons (1373
DR), small wagons and sleds should be able to use the trail. Only the well-armed should use the High Walk,
despite the fact that the Bloodstone Riders guard it well. There still are monster bands in this part of the East
Galenas.
Howser's Trail (FR)
This mountain route once connected the human-run Howser's Mine and Cutrock mines in the Narfelli
Giantspires. The trail now is in hobgoblin hands, as is Howser's Mine.
Conditions: Nothing is known about the condition of this trail, which is in the firm grip of the hobgoblin Acragash
Khanate.
Iron Road (NJ)
This secondary route follows the west bank of the Goliad River, connecting Brandiar's ducal seat, Goliad, with
Soravian Helmsdale and Vaasan Ironspur. It bears moderate mining traffic and is used by caravans selling
wares to the dwarves.
Conditions: The road is open to wagons and riders from Mirtul to the end of Eleint and can be used by sleds in
Uktar, Ches and Tarsakh. Heavy snow usually keeps it closed from Nightal to the end of Alturiak. Unarmed
riders are in danger of being robbed by bandits.
Lake Trail (NJ)
This short secondary route runs between the southeast edge of the Morovian Lakewood and the Icelace River,
connecting Heliogabalus with the Pioneer Trail and the Soravian ducal seat of Kinbrace. It bears only moderate
traffic.
Conditions: The road is open to wagons and riders from Tarsakh to the end of Eleint and can be used by sleds
in Uktar and Ches. Heavy snow usually keeps it closed from Nightal to the end of Alturiak. Unarmed riders are
in danger of being robbed by thieves hiding in the Lakewood.
Lakewood Trail (NJ)
This short Soravian secondary route connects Kinbrace with Southwatch. Most of its traffic these days is
military except in autumn and late winter, when some merchants who no longer can use the lake ferries send
goods to the northwest over the trail by sled.
Conditions: The trail is open to wagons and riders from Tarsakh to the end of Eleint and can be used by sleds
in Uktar and Ches. Heavy snow usually keeps it closed from Nightal to the end of Alturiak. Unarmed riders are
in danger of being robbed by thieves hiding in the Lakewood.
Merchants Run (FR)
The main highway into Damara from the south begins in Impiltur and crosses the Barony of Polten between the
border at Lenchford and the baronial seat, Trailsend, on Lake Mogador. The run is the heaviest traveled road in
the Bloodstone Kingdom, bearing almost all of the caravan traffic between central Damara and Impiltur. The
road is well guarded by the Bloodstone Riders as well as mercenary guards who accompany caravans.
Conditions: Merchants Run is one of the best maintained and safest roads in all of the Bloodstone Kingdom.
Wagons and riders usually can use the route from Tarsakh to early Marpenoth. In most years, sleds can cross
it from mid-Marpenoth to mid-Uktar and again from mid-Alturiak to mid-Ches. Because of high snows, the road
usually is closed from mid-Uktar to mid-Ches. Lone riders or small, poorly armed groups encounter bandits
from the Earthspurs three or four times a year, but the road is otherwise safe.
Mulman Pass (NJ)
This relatively new and daring pass into Damara was opened and is controlled by the Moonsea City of
Mulmaster. It provides an alternate route into Damara that avoids the dangers of Vaasa but exchanges them in
part for the dangers of the southern section of the West Galenas. Most of the commercial traffic from the
Moonsea's south shore, parts of the western Dalelands and Sembia now moves in large, well-guarded caravans
over Mulman Pass.
Conditions: The pass is open to wagons and riders from Mirtul through mid-Eleint. The pass is shielded by the
mountain walls from the heavier snowfall that comes down in the West Galenas, making it useable through
much of the winter for caravans traveling with sleds. Mulmaster maintains winter way stations along the trail
that caravans can use when snow temporarily halts travel through the pass. However, winter traffic is minimal,
because caravans reaching Valls usually are unable to travel farther into Damara in the winter months. Monster
tribes in this part of the Galenas have not been tamed. Only large, well-armed groups are likely to reach Valls
alive.
Pelvurian Ice Road (NJ)
This dangerous explorers' trail is little used. It runs from Palishchuk, the seat of the Vaasan barony, northward
through the settlement of the White Worm barbarians into Pelvuria, the Great Glacier.
Conditions: The road really is little more than a foot trail that is open only from Kythorn through Eleasias. The
Bloodstone Kingdom and the White Worm barbarians have agreements to respect one another's territorial
sovereignty. The barbarians do not welcome visitors. Few know what awaits those who do get past the White
Worm tribe and enter Pelvuria. The available answers can be found in the FR accessory FR 14 The Great
Glacier by Rick Swan, which is available as an ESD download.
Pioneer Trail (NJ)
This secondary road begins in Kinbrace. It serves mining trade first and foremost, connecting Kinbrace with
Vaasan Ironspur and Soravia's Justin's Mine.
Conditions: North of Kinbrace, the road is well-maintained, to bear the heavy wagon traffic to and from the
mines in the north. Wagons and riders usually can use the route from the Icelace Bridge to Kinbrace from
Tarsakh to early Marpenoth. In most years, sleds can cross it from mid-Marpenoth to mid-Uktar and again from
mid-Alturiak to mid-Ches. Because of high snows, the road usually is closed from mid-Uktar to mid-Ches. This
stretch should be considered safe. From Kinbrace to Justin's Mine and Ironspur, the road usually is open to
wagons and riders from Mirtul through Eleint and to sleds in Tarsakh and Marpenoth. It is closed from Uktar
through Ches. Anyone traveling this stretch should have armed protection against bandits.
Soravian Gateway (NJ)
This road of growing importance is among the better routes in the kingdom as far as the Icelace Bridge west of
Steppenhall. From there it turns into a good wilderness trail as far as Newbelle on the eastern point of the Star
of Infelice. The route continues on as a path along the Great Glacier and northward to Sossal.
Conditions: From Trailsend to the Icelace Bridge, the Pioneer Trail is just as well maintained as the Golden
Boulevard or the Merchants Run and safer than the latter. Northwest of the bridge, it should be considered a
good wilderness road, as far as Newbelle. The rest of the route to Sossal is a foot trail unsuited for wagons or
sleds. Wagons and riders usually can use the route to the Icelace Bridge from Tarsakh to early Marpenoth. In
most years, sleds can cross it from mid-Marpenoth to mid-Uktar and again from mid-Alturiak to mid-Ches.
Because of high snows, the road usually is closed from mid-Uktar to mid-Ches. This stretch should be
considered safe. From the bridge to Newbelle the road usually is open to wagons and riders from Mirtul through
Eleint and to sleds in Tarsakh and Marpenoth. It is closed from Uktar through Ches. Anyone traveling this
stretch should have armed protection against bandits. The foot trail from Newbelle to Sossal must be viewed as
absolutely unsafe. Furthermore, travelers must be equipped with the necessary supplies to survive winter
camps en route. Winter weather can make travel from mid-Eleint to mid-Mirtul impossible.
Southern Highway (NJ)
This secondary trail connects Praka, the baronial seat of Ostel, with Valls, the ducal seat of Arcata, and bears
modest but growing mercantile traffic between the two. Since the opening of Mulman Pass, commercial traffic
has been increasing on the highway. Both it and Valls have been gaining in importance, as a result.
Conditions: The entire road is in fairly good condition. Wagons and riders can use it from Tarsakh through
Eleint. It is suitable for sleds from Marpenoth through mid-Uktar and in Ches. All of the road except in the
vicinity of Praka and Valls can be subject to bandit attacks. Only well-armed groups and well-protected
caravans should travel it.
Stormroad (NJ)
This trail crosses the Icelace River southeast of Thimble and connects the Soravian Gateway with the Harper
outpost of Stormstar.
Conditions: The route is rough but still suited for wagons and riders. They usually can use it from Tarsakh to
early Marpenoth. In most years, sleds can cross it from mid-Marpenoth to mid-Uktar and again from mid-
Alturiak to mid-Ches. Because of high snows, the road usually is closed from mid-Uktar to mid-Ches. Harper
rangers patrol the road, but bandits also watch it.
Sunderland Trail (NJ)
The main route in the Vaasan Barony of Sunderland begins on the north side of Damara's Vaasan Wall and
follows the northwestern wall of the East Galenas to the southwest. Until the years after Zhengyi's fall, the trail
passed through Darmshall and ended at the gate of Hillsafar Hall. In recent years, it has been extended to
Southgate, first as a prospector's trail and then as a crude wagon trail after the settlement of Thornleigh
developed.
Conditions: The road is well maintained as far as Hillsafar Hall, but only sturdy wagons and sleds can pass
over it west of there. Wagons and riders can use it from mid-Tarsakh through Eleint. It is suitable for sleds from
Marpenoth through mid-Uktar and from Ches to mid-Tarsakh. Except between the Vaasan Wall and Darmshall
and in the vicinity of Hillsafar Hall and Thornleigh, the road is dangerous. Only the well-armed should travel it.
White Worm Way (NJ)
The way is the southern extension of the Golden Boulevard, the name the road bears south of Praka in Ostel. It
has nothing to do with the White Worm barbarian tribe north of Vaasa on the edge of Pelvuria. The name
comes instead from the Glacier of the White Worm, to which it more or less leads. It bears a respectable
amount of traffic between Praka and Ravensburg, where the remaining westward course is little more than a
wilderness trail. The western leg offers the only Damaran access to the Earthwood, Sudrav, Tomrav and the
Monastery of the Yellow Rose as well as a treacherous backdoor into Impiltur.
Conditions: The way is relatively well maintained between Praka and Ravensburg. This stretch is open from
Tarsakh to the end of Eleint and can be used by sleds in Uktar and Ches. Heavy snow usually keeps it closed
from Nightal to the end of Alturiak. The leg west of Ravensburg is open from Tarsakh to the end of Eleint but is
ill suited for sleds. As a result, it should be considered closed from Marpenoth through Ches. None of the
White Worm Way between Praka and Ravensburg is safe for lone travelers or small, poorly armed bands.
There still are bandits in the forested hills within the trapezoid formed by the roads connecting Praka, Zarach,
Ravensburg and Valls. The leg west of Ravensburg is watched by bandits and goblinkind who lair in the
Earthspurs. Only well-armed travelers should use this part of the White Worm Way.
Other Locations
The locations named in this section are outside of the Bloodstone Kingdom. Some of them may influence your
campaign to a certain extent, although they will play no primary role in it as long as you remain within the
framework of this accessory, that is, within the Bloodstone Kingdom. Areas within Impiltur are described in the
accessory Impiltur, Part 5 of Northern Journey. Areas within the Great Dale are described in the accessory The
Great Dale, Part 6 of Northern Journey.
Areas within Thar, Narfell or Pelvuria the Great Glacier are outside of the scope of the Northern Journey project.
These areas will not be further defined in future accessories planned by the Vintyri Project. If you need more
ideas or information, we suggest you look at the following Wizards of the Coast products:
• Thar: Elminster's Ecologies, available as an ESD download..
• Narfell: FR 9 The Bloodstone Lands, by R.A. Salvatore, available as an ESD download, and The
Unapproachable East, a current WotC product at the time of this writing. Please note that the members
of the project group have not examined this recent release. Therefore, we're unable to give you tips on
possible incompatibilities with our Northern Journey material.
• Pelvuria the Great Glacier: FR 14 The Great Glacier, by Rick Swan, available as an ESD download.
Please note that the name Pelvuria does not appear in the FR 14 accessory. The name originated in the
original Forgotten Realms grey boxed set.
Fort Imphras I, Great Dale (NJ). Military Outpost (Small Town), Nonstandard: Military Command, AL: L-
NG, 400 gp limit*. Assets: 88,000 gp. Population: 1,200; 99% human, 1% other. Authority figure: Sir
Rembrar, human male, AL: LG, Paladin 10 (Ilmater), commander. Other important figure: Tulara, human
female, AL: NG, Sorcerer 11, local leader of the Wand of Impiltur. Others: 1,200 Impilturian soldiers
(Sword of Impiltur), human male and female, AL: various good, Fighter lvls 1-10. Taxation type: None.
Fort Imphras II, Great Dale (NJ). Military Outpost (Small Town), Nonstandard: Military Command, AL: L-
NG, 400 gp limit*. Assets: 88,000 gp. Population: 1,200; 99% human, 1% other. Authority figure: Sir
Bartlnyr, human male, AL: LG, Paladin 11 (Ilmater), commander. Other important figure: Uthraun,
human male, AL: NG, Wizard 10, local leader of the Wand of Impiltur. Others: 1,200 Impilturian soldiers
(Sword of Impiltur), human male and female, AL: various good, Fighter lvls 1-10. Taxation type: None.
These two Impilturian outposts have the job of sealing in the hobgoblins of the Giantspires along the
southwestern face of the mountain, beginning at the most northeasterly tip of the Goblin Wood and continuing to
the southeast as far as the ruins of Lenchstigur. The two outposts man the waytower on the eastern edge of
the Goblin Wood and also the two towers between the two forts. Both compounds are built of stone from the
Giantspires. Each is protected by a 30-foot/9 m stone wall.
Freemen's Hold, Great Dale (NJ). Military Outpost (Small Town), Nonstandard: Military Command, AL:
all good, 400 gp limit*. Assets: 88,000 gp. Population: 800; 99% human, 1% other. Authority figure:
Kurag Arbudssonur, human male, AL: NG, Ranger 13, commander. Other important figure: Mandyng
Tagurssonur, human male, AL: NG, Wizard 9. Others: 800 warriors and rangers of the Freemen, human
male and female, AL: various good, Fighter and Ranger lvls 1-9. Taxation type: None.
This outpost picks up where the Impilturians left off, sealing the Giantspires between Fort Imphras II and
Tebbet's Cairn and manning the two waytowers along that stretch. The compound is built of stone from the
Giantspires and of wood. it is protected by a 20-foot/6 m stone wall.
Hark's Finger (FR). Mountain.
The lone mountain in eastern Narfell is an important landmark to the Nar tribes, who call it Mount Jiksidur. Rare
travelers in these lands use it as a guiding point to find their way. The Nars hold it sacred and consider it to be
a gift from the gods.
Mount Okk, Pelvuria (FR). Ruin. AL: None, 0 gp limit. Assets: 0 gp. Population: 0. Taxation type:
None.
Few if any feet ever have crossed the closed fissure in the Great Glacier where Mount Okk was swallowed.
Most of the time, the site is under snow, and there is nothing to be seen there. However, if one chanced to
stand at the right point when Pelvuria was having a dry and windy spell, the ice might be free of snow. Were
the sun also at the right position, an observant person might see the castles ruins buried several yards/meters
deep within.
It is told that a band of evil and by all accounts insane wizards, descendents of the Imaskari rebels of fallen
Nove Ríse, who had lived secluded from generation to generation in caves high in the East Galenas above
Damara and Vaasa, decided to return to the green hills of Nove Ríse that their ancestors had fled to escape the
plague from Raurin.
The wizards left the Galenas in autumn of the Year of the Eyes (1141 DR) and made the short trek over the
swampy Vaasan Plain to the foot of Pelvuria, the Great Glacier, which they did not know had existed. Nor did
they recognize it as such at that time. The found the low, icy tail mountains of the Lugsaas Chain upon the
glacier and entered them, assuming these to be the green hills of Nove Ríse in the grip of winter.
When they reached the largest of the ice mountains, Mount Okk, they chose it as their new home, using their
magic to build themselves an ice castle, where they stayed to finish their work upon the magical Tower of
Feeblemindedness. In the Year of the Angry Sea (1148 DR), they scryed the White Worm barbarian tribe,
intending to unleash the rays of the Tower of Feeblemindedness upon them. The attack was to be a test, to see
if the tower worked the intended magic.
However, the tower had not been perfected, and Mystra's decision to make it incredibly difficult for mortal men
to use spells above the 9th level in her domain made the tower unstable. It bristled with ancient Imaskari spells
of 10th and 11th levels. The wizards attempted to unleash the tower's rays upon the White Worm tribe, but their
high level magic had gone wild, setting off a massive earthquake in the Lugsaas Chain of Pelvuria.
A fissure opened near the base of Mount Okk, swallowing both the ice castle and the wizards. As fate would
have it, only the telescoping magical Tower of Feeblemindedness escaped destruction.
Nar-sek Qu'istrade, Narfell (FR). Narfelli meeting ground, Nonstandard: tribal, AL: all, 0 gp limit.
Assets: 0 gp. Population: 0, Taxation type: None.
Nar-sek Qu'istrade is a box canyon in the eastern inner wall of the Giantspires in Narfell. The Nar tribes
recognize the canyon as a neutral meeting ground. The canyon is lined with caves, which provide protection
from any kind of inclement weather.
It has a single entrance so narrow that it can be entered only double file. The canyon is highly defensible, but
tribes who are within it also can be besieged there. However, the Nars can light a system of beacon fires atop
the canyon which will draw help from other tribes outside of the canyon.
All of the Nar barbarians respect Nar-sek Qu'istrade as a neutral meeting ground where even tribes who
normally are bitter rivals will stay peacefully together. The box canyon served as the main center of the Nars'
defense during Zhengyi's time. Today, it also is a place where outsiders can come to meet with tribal leaders,
make proposals to them and negotiate with them.
5. Campaigning in the Bloodstone Kingdom

Capital: Bloodstone Village. Coat of Arms (Northern Journey unofficial): Left field,
Princedom of Damara, right field, Princedom of Vaasa. Authority figures: Gareth
Dragonsbane, human male, AL:LG, King, Paladin (Ilmater) 26; Lady Christine
Dragonsbane, human female, AL:NG, Queen, Druidess (Silvanus) 23; Panus
Anghelkhus, human male, AL:NG, court mage (Bloodstone Village), Wizard 26; General
Liam MacAroon, human male, AL:LG, War Minister and Commander of the Bloodstone
Army (Monastery of the Golden Cup), Paladin (Ilmater) 24; Tommy McIldu, human
male, AL:NG, foreign minister, Aristocrat 12; Hendelraun, human male, AL:LG, Minister
of Finance, Aristocrat 8, Expert 8; Tavis MacPherson, human male, AL:NG, Minister of Trade, Aristocrat
4, Expert 13; Friar Dugald, human male, AL:LG, Royal Spiritual Advisor and High Priest of Ilmater
(Goliad), Cleric 25; Quillan, human male, AL:LG, Prince of Damara (Heliogabalus), Diviner 23 (Sage),
Druid 2 (Epic 25); Darren Thunderclap, human male, AL:NG, Prince of Vaasa, Fighter 8, Aristocrat 3; the
Burgomaster of Heliogabalus and the dukes and barons of Damara and Vaasa (data farther below).
The Bloodstone Kingdom can be a pretty confusing place to new adventurers arriving there who know little
about it. In one of the many ceremonies after the proclamation of the kingdom, Quillan the Sage, now Prince of
Damara, summed the matter up rather nicely for those who are able to sort through his words:
The Bloodstone Kingdom has been proclaimed, and therefore it is. During the next half century or so, we
have much work to do, to see that the kingdom also comes to be.
The reality is that the Bloodstone Kingdom remains little more than a vision of King Gareth and those who
believe in it. They all are convinced that if the vision can be realized, the kingdom one day will become one of
the great, stable nations of Faerûn - and one of its richest.
Today, the kingdom is little more than a forced union of two lands that have little in common beyond their
natural resources, the princedoms of Damara and Vaasa.
Some sages describe Impiltur, the kingdom's southern neighbor, as a frontier version of Cormyr in the West,
which is a monarchy that was founded - ironically - by sons of Impiltur. Damara, then, could be described as a
Wild West version of Impiltur. Vaasa, on the other hand, is simply a wild land, one that never has been
governed in any meaningful sense of that word.
Within its cities, villages and other settlements, Damara already is a civilized country. Its communities can be
viewed as safe by Faerûnian standards. The rural areas are less secure. Damara has long stretches of
useable but still unused land. These still harbor bands of bandits and brigands, although monsters have
become relatively rare in most parts of the land. Still, one can hardly claim that small groups of travelers can
move safely through the countryside outside of the Lake Mogador area or within Bloodstone Pass.
Vaasa, on the other hand, is for the most part untamed. Only three settlements can be viewed as safe: The
capital Darmshall, the ducal seat of Ironspur and the baronial seat of Hillsafar Hall. The baronial seat of
Palishchuk, the Harper stronghold Highsong, the traders' town of Asfaloth and the border settlement of
Gatehold are in the processing of becoming safe. All other settlements should be viewed as endangered. The
open lands should be considered deadly, and the ruins of Castle Perilous are lethal. No one has entered them
since Zhengyi's fall and returned alive. There are many bands of bandits, brigands and monsters plaguing the
land.
The populations of Damara and Vaasa also have little in common with one another. There are dwarven and
halfling settlements in Damara, but most of the princedom's population is human. Damarans by and large are
civilized folk seeking prosperity and peaceful lives.
The dwarves and half-orcs of Vaasa are natives who are seeking prosperity and long-term security, but they
also are ready to take considerable risks to win them. Most humans in Vaasa are immigrants who have come
there for any number of reasons - not all of them good - and many of them live the risk-filled life of adventure
that is their lot willingly and even with joy.
If a merchant from the Damaran capital Heliogabalus were to cross the border and travel to the Vaasan capital
of Darmshall, his or her reaction probably would be:
So! This belongs to us now. Of course, I'm not quite sure why we want it. Then again, if the tales of the
untold riches waiting in the mountains here are true …
On the other hand, if a trader from Darmshall were to travel to Heliogabalus, his or her reaction probably would
be:
So! We belong to this now. What a decadent collection of uselessness and bureaucracy. However, it
gives us the protection of the Damaran army too …
A wise traveler entering the Bloodstone Kingdom will view the princedoms of Damara and Vaasa as being two
separate lands that have little in common other than a man who calls themselves their king, a man who has a
vision that both lands would like to see come true. As Quillan said, it will take 50 years - perhaps more - before
they can be forged into a true kingdom.
Those who choose to enter the Bloodstone Kingdom will find few traces of the royal government visible in daily
life. King Gareth and his mostly colorless cabinet sit a bit reclusively in the capital, Bloodstone Village, on the
Damaran side of the border between the two princedoms. Rather than ruling on a day-to-day basis, they plan,
oversee and prepare for future deeds.
The day-to-day rule of the kingdom is left largely to the two princes, Quillan of Damara in Heliogabalus, and
Darren of Vaasa in Darmshall. They, in turn, delegate much of their authority to their dukes, barons and the
burgomaster of the Free City of Heliogabalus. As a result, rule is very much a local matter in Damara and
Vaasa.
Indeed, no other system would function well at present without a heavy hand of enforcement. Vaasa has no
cohesive population and very little loyalty to anyone or anything beyond individual success or survival. To a
limited extent, there are exceptions.
One of them is Darmshall, a human settlement which not only survived but even held out against Zhengyi. The
population is loyalty to Prince Darren, but because he successfully led them as burgomaster through the time of
the Witch King's reign, not because King Gareth made of him a prince.
Another is Hillsafar Hall, where the dwarves are fully loyal to Baron Garumbelly, not, however, because he is the
Baron of Sunderland, but rather because he is their chieftain. The same can be said for Ironspur, where the
dwarves are loyal to their chieftain Murnaros, who also happens to be the Iron Duke of Ironspur.
The half-orcs of Palishchuk are no less loyal to Baron Wingham. This is a younger loyalty, however. His folk
follows him because he led it successfully in rebellion against the Witch King in Zhengyi's time, in a band that
humans then disrespectfully called Weird Wingham's Wacky Weapon Wielders.
There are other loyalties in Vaasa, too. There long have been close bonds between the humans of Darmshall
and the dwarves of Hillsafar Hall that continue today. In a perhaps strange but newer friendship, the half-orcs of
Palishchuk and the dwarves of Ironspur are closely allied.
However, that's about as far as Vaasan loyalties go. The concepts of the Bloodstone Kingdom, the Princedom
of Vaasa, the Duchy of Ironspur and the baronies of Sunderland and Palishchuk are interesting and perhaps
even good ideas in most Vaasans' minds, but nothing more than that. They're simply ideas that might turn out
to be something someday.
Fortunately, that someday draws closer, albeit slowly. Behind the visions are deeds that slowly, almost invisibly
are beginning to bind Vaasa more tightly into a unit. Mariabronne in Darmshall and his Bloodstone Riders are
slowly eliminating the bandits, brigands and monster bands that infest and plague the vast open and unsettled
areas of the princedom, making travel possible only in large numbers or with heavy defenses. Military units
under the command of Baron Garumbelly are gradually scouring and destroying the Black Holes of Sunderland.
One of the more interesting cleansing operations is taking place almost unseen in the Vaasan swamps and
bogs. After returning to his native Impiltur, former Bloodstone finance minister and Heliogabalus Burgomaster
Rulmgar became acquainted with priests of Istishia in Impiltur. He interested them in the Vaasan backwaters,
which Zhengyi fouled and infested with an unnatural number of trolls.
The Impilturian priests passed word on to members of the Church of the Magnificent Storm Sect of Istishia's
faith, and a delegation of four priests came to Vaasa and now is conjuring holy storms over the swamps and
bogs in a slow and painstaking process of purification.
Perhaps, one day when the threats against travel within Vaasa have become less, when the ruins of Castle
Perilous have been purged of their evil and when the swamps and bogs have been restored to their natural
state, Vaasans will see that these deeds were accomplished only through the unified efforts of their princedom
and its duchy and two baronies. Perhaps then, their loyalties to these governments will become strong.
There is a bit more loyalty within Damara, but far less than there was before Zhengyi's reign of terror. Damara
once was a strong, proud and prosperous kingdom built upon duchies and baronies that stood eye-to-eye - at
least as far as Damarans were concerned - with the Kingdom of Impiltur. The Witch King destroyed the
kingdom and manipulated the duchies and baronies into becoming little states that competed with one another
and stood in unfriendly rivalry against each other.
King Gareth, in turn, vanquished Zhengyi and reunited the kingdom, but in many cases through conquest or the
luck of having his foes assassinated, which won for him far less loyalty than a king with an unquestioned right to
the Damaran throne would have been given by the folk.
But King Gareth also has done other things that were received with less than enthusiasm by many Damarans.
He did not restore the old Damaran kingdom but rather reduced it to the rank of a princedom. And then, he
united the princedom with Vaasa, a land that symbolizes only evil and terror in Damaran minds. Many of his
subjects still believe that the king should have restored the old kingdom or proclaimed a new Damaran kingdom
and then subjugated Vaasa to it as a colony, rather than giving it equal status as a separate princedom.
Organizations such as the Iron Throne capitalize upon these opinions and attempt to spread them, in the hope
of keeping the king and his monarchy weak, so that they can pursue their own gain with less trouble than they
would have with a strong king.
Ironic as it may seem, Damaran loyalty is an entirely different matter when it comes to the duchies and baronies
or the Free City of Heliogabalus, even though they are ruled by old friends of the king whom he appointed, such
as Duke Riordan of Carmathan or Baron Celedon of Morov. Damarans continue to this day to view themselves
first and foremost as Arcatans, Carmathians, etc., rather than as Damarans, to say nothing of considering
themselves subjects of the Bloodstone Kingdom.
This suits not only the Iron Throne well but also the Harpers. The latter organization usually is opposed to the
establishment of large, centralized kingdoms or empires. With his decision to delegate most decisions to lower
and more local levels of government, King Gareth has spared himself the opposition of the Twilight Hall Harpers
settled in Vaasan Highsong, and he has won the support of the Shadowdale faction Harpers in Soravian
Stormstar, although the latter give their greater allegiance to Duke Olwen.
Thus, the king and his cabinet can devote their attention to more sweeping issues such as the curbing of
corruption in mercantile circles and the management of national finances. Above all, however, they watch what
is happening upon Suncatcher Mountain and in the ruins of Castle Perilous. Until these two threats are
eliminated, the Bloodstone Kingdom well could be a fleeting dream rather than a vision.
Other eyes too are upon these two targets. The nonagenarian Queen Sambryl in Impiltur, her Regent War
Captain Kyrlraun and her archmage-lover Daerthnur are well aware that Suncatcher and the castle ruins are
vestiges of utter evil. They plan in concert with the Bloodstone Kingdom to attack both, but there are reasons
why they and Bloodstone King Gareth have held their hands to date.
The Impilturian and Bloodstone rulers are convinced that the vile creatures that inhabit the ruins of Castle
Perilous are subservient to those who reign in the strange castle atop Suncatcher. Before they attack, they
would like to know what reaction might be expected from Suncatcher Mountain, and yet, despite all of their
powerful spells and magical tools of ancient Narfelli origin, they have failed in every attempt to scry the
mountaintop.
They believe it is foolhardy enough to attack an enemy whom one does not understand, because neither
sensible offensive or defensive strategies can be developed in advance, giving the foe a substantial advantage.
Beyond that, however, the rulers of both kingdoms have little idea how to go about attacking Suncatcher
Mountain.
Suncatcher is the highest peak in the Galenas at 26,000 feet/7,925 meters. It always is capped by snow, and it
usually is shrouded in clouds. Suncatcher's walls are sheer on all sides except to the southeast, where it can
be reached by a torturous foot trail of sorts, but one that is difficult to stay upon because it is hard to mark just
where it runs. One must use landmarks to stay upon the trail, because the path itself never is visible. It's simply
a route that crosses terrain which always is covered by a meter or more of snow.
This trail begins in the Vaasan lowlands east of Thornleigh but soon leads up into the Galenas and through
them, coming to the Triple Ridge, a series of three mountains that drop to the southeast from the face of
Suncatcher. Each of the three mountains constituting the Triple Ridge tops out at about 18,000 feet/
5,500 meters.
This geography makes it impossible to send an army up to the mysterious castle in the clouds atop Suncatcher.
A specialized commando unit well might make it through, but in what areas other than crossing snow-covered
mountains should the unit be specialized? Neither Kyrlraun nor King Gareth has the least idea. Yet, to send
any such troop unprepared over the mountains would be suicide and therefore pointless.
Impiltur also has pondered sending flying wizards to Suncatcher but then written the idea off as foolish. The
people who built the castle obviously are masters of mighty magic. Only by such means could the fortress have
been constructed. The flying magi would need to be properly trained and equipped to fight such foes, but to do
that, one first must know the nature of the enemy.
Such magi also would be at a tremendous disadvantage, because the 50 or so dragons believed to be lairing in
the ruins of Castle Perilous below appear to answer to the commands of the Suncatcher castle's inhabitants.
Archwand Daerthnur in Impilturian Ilmwatch has no doubt that his flying war wizards would have to defeat a
large number of these dragons before even being able to engage the true enemy, and he has too few magi of
the caliber necessary to do this task.
As a result, the Impilturian rulers and King Gareth have agreed that the only hope for defeating the powers atop
Suncatcher Mountain is to draw them out of their mountaintop refuge, onto terrain where they can be engaged
in combat. For that reason, as the new Year of Wild Magic (1372 DR) began, they were had decided to attack
the ruins of Castle Perilous and attempt to destroy whatever their foes are doing or creating there.
This is the crux of this segment of Northern Journey. While the armies and wizards of Impiltur and the
Bloodstone Kingdom are waging a hard, slow and costly war against Castle Perilous, your PCs will have the
chance to cross the Triple Ridge and attempt to defeat Sammaster and Kargmelchina in their own domain atop
Suncatcher Mountain while the great military hosts clash farther below.
If they succeed in this task, they will find that things remain in a deadlock at Castle Perilous, where they can go
on a second dangerous mission into the ruins and end the terror there. That will take the PC party to the end of
the main Northern Journey adventure. Those who wish to continue with the optional expansion, In the Land of
the Lich Lords, can use the last part of this accessory as a bridge.
This will give your campaign a number of options. The PCs can find their way into the outer (or even inner)
regions of the Kiaransalee-worshipping drow city of V'elddrinnsshar, which will lead them to a gate into
Azzagrat, the domain of the Abyssal Lord Graz'zt, who is holding Waukeen captive.
If the PCs rescue the goddess there, she will lead them to a portal through which Graz'zt and his demons
cannot pass, a portal which will take the PCs to the Loudwater area in the distant northwest of Faerûn, where
the adventure In the Land of the Lich Lords begins.
Before any of that can happen, however, the PCs must complete the destruction of the labs and breeding
stations in the ruins of Castle Perilous. If you are running this accessory according to plan, your PCs will enter
the Bloodstone Kingdom sometime in the Year of Wild Magic (1372 DR). Regardless of what they do, a number
of events will be taking place at their own rate.
5.1 The Running Clock of the Year of Wild Magic
In all campaigns where the game master plans to have the PCs encounter Kargmelchina, he or she should
seriously ponder at the start whether an avatar encounter is desirable in the campaign.
• If so, only two items capable of destroying an avatar have been introduced in Northern Journey, the
Wand of Orcus and the Honor Sword of Baergil. Your PCs must have one or both of these weapons, or
they must have another weapon of equal abilities that you have introduced. Otherwise they will have no
chance to destroy the avatar when they encounter her.
• If an avatar encounter is not desired, this should pose no problem. Tiamat has spread herself very thin in
the Realms. She has too many avatars for a lesser power, and that is dangerous. If she feels that her
Kargmelchina avatar is in danger of being destroyed, she will abandon it, and Kargmelchina will return to
being herself and encounter the PCs in her own vampire dragon lich form.
Likewise, the game master who plans to run In the Land of the Lich Lords, the optional 8th part of Northern
Journey, should ponder what he or she wishes to do with Sammaster. In this case, the PCs might find only a
facet of Sammaster in Castle Dragonblood. His main essence then would be found then in the northwest of
Faerûn, in the Land of the Lich Lords.
If you make these decisions in advance, you will have fewer complications when the encounters with
Sammaster and Kargmelchina actually take place.
Non-Northern Journey Game Masters

Much of the material in this introduction to Part 5 and to segments 5.1 and 5.2 is essential only in those
campaigns where the actual Northern Journey adventure is being run or being used in some manner. In the NJ
adventure, the PCs, in this 7th part at last come up against the enemies they long have been seeking,
Sammaster and his female partner, Kargmelchina, in Castle Dragonblood atop Suncatcher Mountain.
This accessory was designed to be equally useable with and without the NJ adventure. If you are using
Bloodstone as a Forgotten Realms campaign setting expansion without regard to the NJ adventure, there is
absolutely no need for your PCs to deal with Sammaster, Kargmelchina or their minions in the ruins of Castle
Perilous.
On the contrary, you'll find loads of information on the various regions, cities, villages and settlements of the
Bloodstone Kingdom that you can exploit to whatever extent you wish in your campaign, while those game
masters running the NJ adventure are forced to bypass many of these possibilities, leaving them unused as
they and their PCs concentrate on the heart of the adventure.
Thus, you should not necessarily feel compelled to adhere to the following sequence of events but rather do
whatever you need to do, to make it fit your campaign. If you aren't running the NJ adventure, this section may,
indeed, be totally irrelevant in your campaign. Whatever NJ adventure elements you may wish to use can occur
upon your own timetable.
Some game masters who want a part of the Northern Journey adventure going on in the background of their
own non-NJ campaigns have found this difficult to implement. This need not be the case. It depends upon how
you go about doing it. Through playtesting, we are aware of some campaigns that are doing precisely that. The
PCs in those campaigns are off on their own adventures, while the NJ PCs become NPCs whom the real PCs
never have encountered but who are doing deeds that are a matter of tales and bard song.
Your PCs well may have heard of a strange band of adventurers with even stranger red symbols upon their
arms who have left a trail of havoc for all evildoers who have crossed their path as they've traveled slowly
toward Faerûn's Northeast.
Most recently, it is said, these PCs have destroyed an evil lich named Harbet Gall and a powerful coven of the
Dragon Cult in the eastern Great Dale and now are somewhere in the Bloodstone Kingdom. During the course
of your PCs' visit there, they may hear how these legendary, tattooed adventurers have brought down the fall of
a reincarnated Sammaster and his lover atop Suncatcher Mountain.
At the same time, the armies of Impiltur and the Bloodstone Kingdom are reported to be fighting a hard war
against dragons and their minions in the ruins of Zhengyi's Castle Perilous in Vaasa, to the north. All of these
things can be happening while your PCs are pursuing their own adventure in Damara or Vaasa, or, if you wish,
none of these events need to have taken place.
The threats of Suncatcher Mountain and the ruins of Castle Perilous may be known, but the battle that seems to
be brewing may not take place for a few more years, when your PCs have the levels necessary to play a heroic
role in it. Then again, they may have nothing at all to do with the war, when and if it takes part in your
campaign. As game master, the choices are yours, and almost all options are open.
Northern Journey Game Masters

Once your PCs have entered the Bloodstone Kingdom, we will assume that they have destroyed at a minimum
the lich Harbet Gall in Nighthawk Tower in the Great Dale. They also should have destroyed Urgath Hurddh
and his Dragon Cult cell in Tower Threespires and, hopefully, the followers of Garagos in the ruins of Fortress
Clymph. Please keep these points in mind:
If Gall has been destroyed, mark the date. For 30 days after that date, all non-defensive actions will come to a
standstill in the ruins of Castle Perilous and in Castle Dragonblood atop Suncatcher Mountain. You may need
to adjust the pace of events listed below accordingly. During this time, Sammaster and Kargmelchina will
ponder what to do without Gall.
If the PCs have destroyed Gall but neglected to destroy Hurddh and his dragon vampires and draconians in the
Great Dale, the surviving cult members will arrive at Castle Dragonblood flying upon the vampire dragons in
dragon form in the PCs' most desperate moment of battle and they will give their all at that time to help destroy
the PCs. If your PCs have destroyed some cultists and/or vampire dragons in the Great Dale, deduct these
from the amount available to attack the PCs.
The Realms Draconians serving Hurddh in the Great Dale will not be able to reach Castle Perilous in time to
reach Castle Dragonblood and join in the battle there, but they will arrive in the interior of the ruins of Castle
Perilous at the time the PCs are exploring it and encounter them just when the PCs are in their most dire straits
in the dungeon. All draconians who were not destroyed in the Great Dale will arrive in the ruins.
If the PCs have not destroyed the followers of Garagos in the ruins of Fortress Clymph in the Great Dale, these
will arrive in Damara as they intend and disrupt things there. The PCs may not have to occupy themselves with
them, but it will divert strength from the Bloodstone Army.
If you do not want to develop considerable modified material yourself, it must be made clear to the PCs,
perhaps by King Gareth himself or perhaps by his nobles, that the armies should take on Castle Perilous and
the PCs should meet their own destiny atop Suncatcher Mountain. If the PCs insist on going first to Castle
Perilous, the situation is not hopeless but more cumbersome.
There are gates at both locations that vampire dragons and draconians use to travel between the two locations.
There also are trap gates that will dump the PCs in Thornleigh, near the beginning of the trail to the Triple
Ridge. If the PCs go first to the ruins of Castle Perilous, you can see to it that they quickly bump into a gate and
then dump them into Thornleigh.
Going Events
Since late summer in the Year of the Unstrung Harp (1371 DR), bands of draconians, led by dragon vampires
have been crossing Vaasa, the East Galenas and Soravia, heading into Rawlinswood east of the Nentyarch's
domain in the eastern Great Dale.
They arrive at a reception station in the northern ruins of Veidarhofn, then move on to a new
base they are establishing in the ruins of Auststad, just east of Tower Threespires, where their
commanders, the archwizards of the Tiamatist faction of the Dragon Cult reside. These
activities and locations are described in detail in The Great Dale, Part 6 of Northern Journey,
which can be downloaded free from the Northern Journey Internet site at:
During the winter months, this migration continues. Another critical event also occurs in the winter. The other
avatars of Tiamat that are active in the Realms have reached some of their goals. The goddess now can
concentrate much of her power upon producing the army she intends to use to conquer the Bloodstone Lands,
the Cold Lands and the Vast.
Beneath the ruins of Castle Perilous, large laboratories have been built near the mercury pool which Zhengyi
had created with the intention of using it to bring the now dead demon deity Orcus into the Realms. Through
her Kargmelchina avatar, Tiamat has transformed the mercury pool into a magical tool that transmutes goblins,
orcs, hobgoblins, ogres and trolls into Realms Draconians.
Within Castle Dragonblood, Kargmelchina and Sammaster also have been drawing human magi and dragons,
transmuting them into vampire dragons. They have firmed their plans to begin conquering the Bloodstone
Kingdom, Impiltur, the Great Dale and the Vast beginning in Tarsakh of the Year of the Rogue Dragons (1373
DR). Their goal is the establishment of a Tiamatist Empire that will dominate the Dragon Cult, making of it a
political, religious and military arm for the Dragon Queen's church in Faerûn.
The D&D 3E and AD&D 2E descriptions and statistics for the various Realms Draconians and
for vampire dragons in their human, hybrid and dragon forms can be found in the Northern
Journey Campaign Guide Version 8. The campaign guide can be downloaded free in separate
2E and 3E versions from the Northern Journey Internet site at:
Hammer
As the new year dawns, Tiamat begins vesting a substantial share of her godly power in the mercury pool
beneath the ruins of Castle Perilous. She and Sammaster use magic to call goblins, orcs and ogres in the West
Galenas, trolls in the Vaasan swamps and bogs and hobgoblins in the Giantspires to march to the ruins of
Castle Perilous.
The first call is mostly successful, drawing 1,000 goblins, 600 orcs, 100 ogres and 100 trolls. However, the
power of the remaining magical blades among the famous 10 times 10 Swords of Impiltur in the hands of the
hobgoblins in the Giantspires gives most of them the power to resist the call, and only 20 hobgoblins leave the
Khanate in response.
The march of the monsters toward the ruins is observed by winter-hardy rangers of the Bloodstone Riders. In
some cases, it comes to combat, and the rangers are slain. In other cases, the rangers flee the advancing
monsters and begin the slow journey toward Darmshall, Hillsafar Hall and Palishchuk, the only locations in
Vaasa where there are Bloodstone Talismans that can be used to alert King Gareth and his cabinet in
Bloodstone Village.
By the month's end, 860 goblins, 560 orcs, 90 ogres, 90 trolls and 12 hobgoblins survive the harsh winter
conditions and snow and arrive in the ruins of Castle Perilous to be transmuted. From this date on, roughly the
same number of monsters arrives each month to be turned into draconians. The vampire dragons and
draconians working in the laboratory within the ruins and at the mercury pool transmute about a third of this lot
each tenday. The transmuted monsters begin making a military camp on the perimeter of the ruins.
Alturiak
At the beginning of the month, Impilturian Archwand Daerthnur uses his Bloodstone Talisman to communicate
to the Impilturian hierarchy and King Gareth news of the Tiamatist activities in the Great Dale. Impilturian spies
have become aware of the full strength of the reception station in the ruins of Veidarhofn and the draconian
settlement in the ruins of Auststad:
• Veidarhofn: 5 dragon vampires, 5 troll draconians, 4 ogre draconians, 8 hobgoblin draconians, 16 orc
draconians and 16 goblin draconians. These figures remain rather constant until either Veidarhofn itself
or Tower Threespires and Auststad are destroyed. In most campaigns, the PCs should have eliminated
the inhabitants of Tower Threespires and Auststad before reaching the Bloodstone Kingdom. If they
have done so, Kargmelchina and Sammaster will have abandoned their plans for establishing a base in
the Great Dale at this time.
• Auststad: At the end of Hammer, there are 3 vampire dragons, 3 troll draconians, 3 ogre draconians, 3
hobgoblin draconians, 4 orc draconians and 5 goblin draconians in the settlement. In each succeeding
month until the destruction of Tower Threespires or the 1st day of Tarsakh, whichever occurs first, the
numbers grow monthly by 1 vampire dragon, 2 troll draconians, 2 ogre draconians, 2 hobgoblin
draconians, 4 orc draconians and 5 goblin draconians.
Toward the end of the month, news reaches King Gareth of the march of various monsters toward the ruins of
Castle Perilous. He uses his Bloodstone Talisman to pass the news on to his allies in Impiltur.
Ches
Sammaster continues to draw monsters to the ruins of Castle Perilous and Kargmelchina sees to it that they are
transformed into draconians. Most of the draconians remain in the growing military camp on the perimeter of
the ruins of Castle Perilous, but others are sent into the Great Dale. The rates of growth are listed above under
Hammer and Alturiak.
The magic of Kargmelchina and Sammaster is not great enough to hide the summoned monsters that
constantly are marching toward the ruins of Castle Perilous or the growing host of draconians around its
perimeter. But the two wish the Bloodstone Kingdom and Impiltur to know as little as possible about the nature
of their enemy.
Therefore, Sammaster issues orders to the leader of the vampire dragons, Knellict, that none of the vampire
dragons are to engage in combat anywhere or under any condition without specific orders to do so. If a party
led by a vampire dragon is engaged, the vampire dragon is to use its magic, if possible, to whisk the entire band
away without engaging in battle. If this is not possible, the vampire dragon is under orders to teleport itself from
the scene rather than personally being engaged in combat.
During the course of the month, rangers of the Bloodstone Riders who have engaged draconians bring the king
reports of the strange ways in which this foe dies. The king passes these reports on to Impiltur. If vampire
dragons have been downed anywhere within your campaign, Archwand Daerthnur in Ilmwatch will have
received news of these events and will know that the bodies of the dead wyrms degenerate after their
destruction into rotting dragon carcasses, indicating that they have been dead for some time.
In this case, Daerthnur will assume that at least some of the dragons in the ruins of Castle Perilous are undead
wyrms of an unknown type. Daerthnur knows of only one type of undead dragon, the dracolich, and he is
certain that the wyrms of Vaasa are a new type of undead dragon rather than dracoliches. He also is certain,
from reports, that these dragons can polymorph themselves between dragon and hybrid forms, and if your
campaign has discovered the human form, he will be aware of this too.
Near the end of the second tenday in Ches, King Gareth, Queen Sambryl, Kyrlraun and the other important
powers of Impiltur and the Bloodstone Kingdom use the Bloodstone Talismans and the Scrying Stones of Myth
Drannor to engage in a long and troubled conference.
Although they agree that they still know too little about their enemy, they are certain that he, she or both are
preparing to wage war. They settle for the theory that the best defense is an offense and decide they will mount
their attack against Castle Perilous in the coming summer.
However, they want the enemy to be as poorly prepared and as much surprised by their attack as possible.
They cannot hide the large movement of troops involved, but they hope to delude their faceless enemy into a
feeling of false security. They decide not to make known that they plan real war with the inhabitants of the ruins
of Castle Perilous as their goal, but rather to claim that Impiltur and the Bloodstone Kingdom are planning a
huge, two-month military exercise on the Vaasan Plain in Kythorn and Flamerule.
The orders given to all of their commanders and soldiers will contain the same false information, indicating that
a large training exercise is planned. The Impilturians will bring caravans of unneeded training equipment with
them to maintain this ruse.
Their orders will state that the exercises will take place in the swampfree areas of the Vaasan Plain between
and to the north of Gatehold and Asfaloth and south of the ruins of Castle Perilous. King Gareth agrees that the
Bloodstone Riders will spread the news of the exercises across Damara and Vaasa in Tarsakh and Mirtul, as
travel becomes possible again in the kingdom, to alert the public to the massive but peaceful movement of
troops that is planned.
Most of this plan is suggested by King Gareth's old sage, Prince Quillan of Damara. The prince argues that the
plan has two advantages:
• If executed well, the enemy will believe that an exercise is planned and will not be properly prepared for a
massive attack.
• Unless the enemy also wishes to start his or her own war at that time, it will be forced to keep its own
activities in bounds as Impiltur and the Bloodstone Kingdom make their war camp, to avoid provoking a
war it does not yet want to fight.
In the course of the summer, King Gareth and Kyrlraun agree to send 5,200 warriors of the Bloodstone Army,
as many battlemagi as King Gareth can muster, 5,000 warriors of the Sword of Impiltur and 18 war magi and
sorcerers of the Wand of Impiltur onto the Vaasan Plain. Both sides also will send war priests.
Prince Quillan of Damara meets with Chancellor Dargun of Polten, Duke Olwen of Soravia, Duke Dormythyrr of
Brandiar and Baron Hobart of Bloodstone to begin preparing for the northward march of the Impilturian and
Bloodstone troops. A long series of encampments must be prepared and wells must be dug to accommodate
the more than 10,000 soldiers who will march into Vaasa.
Prince Quillan has decided to move the soldiers over Trailsend, Withermeet and Daleport in Polten and
Kinbrace in Soravia and Goliad and Fort Kane in Brandiar, before they march through Bloodstone Pass into
Vaasa. He, Chancellor Dargun, Baron Hobart, Duke Olwen and Duke Dormythyrr also begin the extensive
logistical planning needed to supply and feed the army as it moves across Damara.
Vaasan Prince Darren in Darmshall takes similar measures in Gatehold and also stations 200 soldiers there in a
tent city outside of the walls, to see that law and order is established in relatively lawless Gatehold until the war
is over. Baron Wingham in Palishchuk orders 50 trained half-orc scouts to head out onto the Vaasan Plain
when late Tarsakh comes, to observe the enemy in the ruins of Castle Perilous from the distance and also to
report all enemy movements.
Near the month's end, orders are issued for the great mobilization. Regent War Captain Kyrlraun in Impiltur
mobilizes 2,000 men of the Southern Sword, headquartered in Lyrabar, 1,500 men of the North Sword,
headquartered in Vordric-Dun, and 1,500 men of the Eastern Wave, headquartered in Ilmwatch, to take part in
the alleged exercises. Because more than half of the members of the Sword of Impiltur are sailors rather than
soldiers, Kyrlraun orders naval personnel to undergo three tendays of training in land combat before departing
northward.
General War Captain Haelimbrar of Vordric-Dun will command the Impilturian host. His deputy is Admiral War
Captain Rilimbraun of Lyrabar. Two other Lords of Imphras II also are assigned to take major commands: War
Captain Silmgar of Hlammach and War Captain Soargilm in Dilpur. All four are paladins of Ilmater. Kyrlraun
also grants Haelimbrar's request and assigns Holy Strategist Lashilana, High Dean of the College of Strategical
Planning in Lyrabar and priestess of the Red Knight, to Haelimbrar's command staff.
Archwand Daerthnur informs Kyrlraun that he will take the personal command of the 18 wizards and sorcerers
from the Wand of Impiltur whom he is sending into Vaasa. Twenty war priests of various faiths also report for
service in Vaasa. Kyrlraun assigns their command to Battleguard General Wilmbrar, rector of the Great
Imphras War College in Lyrabar and priest of Tempus.
The regent war captain also orders Admiral War Captain Rilaunyr of Ilmwatch to dispatch naval troops to march
by land to prepare war camps for the marching Impilturian troops at intervals of 12 miles/20 km to all of their
starting points. The troops are to have a day's rest for every three days of marching.
A contingent of the first 1,000 Impilturian troops is scheduled to march out of Ilmwatch during the second tenday
in Tarsakh. Subsequent contingents of 1,000 each are scheduled to leave every 10 days afterward, with the
last departing during the last tenday of Mirtul. With the march from Ilmwatch to the Vaasan war camp taking an
estimated 40 days, the first 1,000 Impilturians should reach the camp in late Mirtul and the last 1,000 in late
Kythorn.
King Gareth says he will send 1,600 of his own men to the war camp. He orders Prince Darren to supply 1,600
men from the Vaasan host and Prince Quillan to send 2,000 soldiers northward from Damara. He also orders
the princes to establish war camps for the marching Bloodstone and Impilturian hosts at regular intervals of
roughly15 miles/20 km along the march route from Lenchford to the main war camp in Vaasa. As in Impiltur, the
troops are to have a day's rest for every two to three days of marching.
The two princes also are ordered to see to it that necessary provisions and supplies are available for the
members of the two armies in Lenchford, Trailsend, Kinbrace and Bloodstone Village with special military
supplies being available in Southwatch and Fort Kane.
Over the objections of both princes and all of the dukes and barons as well as the burgomaster of Heliogabalus,
the king says he will take command of the Bloodstone troops in Vaasa. However, he says, until a tenday before
the order is given to march upon the ruins of Castle Perilous, he will remain and rule from Bloodstone Village.
At that point, Prince Quillan will take over the throne until the king's return, acting as his regent.
Until then, King Gareth says, General Liam MacAroon, his War Minister and Commander of the Bloodstone
Army, will command the Bloodstone troops and bring them to the Vaasan war camp. MacAroon is, like the king,
a paladin of Ilmater ordinarily stationed in the Monastery of the Golden Cup.
The king appoints Duke Olwen of Soravia, Duke Riordan of Carmathan, Duke Dormythyrr of Brandiar, Baron
Garumbelly of Sunderland and Baron Celedon of Morov as the high command officers of the Bloodstone host.
He also asks Prince Darren of Vaasa to assign Commander Mariabronne and a number of rangers from the
Vaasan Bloodstone riders to join and take command of the half-orc scouts from Palishchuk who are watching
and attempting to gain information about the ruins of Castle Perilous.
In turn, he asks Prince Quillan of Damara to give Damaran Bloodstone Riders Commander Myrddin Viligoth the
assignment of assembling and taking command of a group of wizards and sorcerers to aid the Bloodstone
troops as war magi. Then the king requests his old companion, Friar Dugald, high priest of Ilmater in Goliad, to
assemble and command a group of war priests to go to Vaasa with his troops.
The Bloodstone commanders are given the timetable for the marching Impilturian units and told to coordinate
movements so that both hosts will arrive in Vaasa in approximately the same numbers at the same time, but
with no war camp needing to be occupied by members of both hosts on the same night.
King Gareth and Regent War Captain Kyrlraun agree that if the full joint host manages to reach the war camp in
Vaasa by late Kythorn, as planned, then it should stay camped in place for at least the first tenday in Flamerule,
to prepare for battle and to learn their commanders' strategies. At that time, they agree, the commanders will
choose the time of their attack, based upon the news from Mariabronne's scouts and whatever events happen
to be taking place at the time.
Both agree that all efforts must be made to end the war before the end of Eleasias, so that all of the joint host
can be withdrawn from Vaasa before it becomes locked in for the winter there. However, they say, if the
situation remains indecisive at that time, it might be necessary to establish and supply winter detachments,
particularly for the Impilturians, in southern Vaasa and northern Damara.
In the waning days of Ches, an excited Friar Dugald in Goliad uses his Bloodstone Talisman to contact King
Gareth. He says he has experienced a vision in the night and is certain it was sent directly from Ilmater. In the
vision, Friar Dugald says, a small group of heroes with strange, glowing, red symbols on their arms come to the
Bloodstone Kingdom, destroy the evil powers atop Suncatcher Mountain and then descend into the ruins of
Castle Perilous and destroy the evil there.
This is a clear sign, Friar Dugald claims, that the planned war isn't necessary at all, that heroes are under way
to do the task at hand.
During the Bloodstone Wars, King Gareth had other experiences with the friar's visions. The king believes that
they were indeed sent by Ilmater, and they were reliable. Only Friar Dugald's interpretations were
problematical. The friar knew, of course, that one must undergo hard trials and persevere, but he always was
inclined to be prepared to persevere tomorrow and enjoy his tankard today.
The king smiles and tells Friar Dugald that it may be as he says, but Gareth suspects that the armies must do
their duty, persevere and open the way for the heroes the friar has seen, before they can scour the ruins of
Castle Perilous of its evil and filth.
Nonetheless, the king is enlightened by the friar's vision, and he uses his Bloodstone Talisman to tell the
Impilturian Regent War Captain Kyrlraun of it. To his surprise, Kyrlraun and Archwand Daerthnur already know
of the sigyll bearers, although neither has been quite certain what the real role is that they have to play.
But Kyrlraun tells King Gareth that he has discussed this matter with Queen Sambryl, who says she believes
that the sigyll bearers are fated to destroy one great evil and unleash another upon the world. The king
ponders, as the magical communication ends.
With such momentous events occurring and such great decisions being sealed, the winter and the month of
Ches slowly draw to a close.
Other Things in Motion

The bearers of the red sigylls should be in the Great Dale and on their way to Harbet Gall by the beginning of
Tarsakh. They could and should cause three rather momentous events in the Great Dale before they depart for
Damara:
• They should destroy Nighthawk Tower and the lich Harbet Gall in the Eastern Dale.
• They should destroy Tower Threespires of the Dragon Cult and its nearby settlement of vampire dragons
and draconians in the ruins of Auststad.
• They also should destroy the draconian reception station in the ruins of Veidarhofn, although this is less
urgent.
When either or both of the first two events occur, Sammaster and Kargmelchina will withdraw all of their vampire
dragons from sight and reduce the activities of their draconians to defensive measures while the two ponder
what their next moves should be. When the first of these events occur, this will last for a month. The second
time it will last only a tenday. At that point it is clear that their hopes of attacking from the rear out of the Great
Dale have been dashed.
In addition, the sigyll bearers also might destroy the ruins of Fortress Clymph and the warriors and priests there
who follow Garagos. This will have no substantial impact, however, upon events in the Vaasan war or upon the
doings of your PCs in the Bloodstone Kingdom.
Because we have no way of knowing when the sigyll bearers will do things in your campaign, we likewise have
no way to determine precisely what events in Damara and Vaasa will be influenced by the work of the sigyll
bearers elsewhere or when that influence will be felt.
Likewise, it is impossible for us to know when in the planned sequence of events your PCs will arrive in Damara.
If they arrive there while King Gareth still is in Bloodstone Village, once it is determined who the PCs are or
what their importance is, they will be sent posthaste to see the king.
If, on the other hand, King Gareth already is leading his host in battle in Vaasa, they will be sent first to see
Prince Quillan acting as regent in Bloodstone Village, who then will communicate with the king via Bloodstone
Talismans and, following the monarch's orders, send the PCs to him in the Vaasan war camp.
Once the two armies start marching northward, Sammaster and Kargmelchina will be watching them closely.
Lower level vampire dragons will be sent out to fly over the march routes in Damara and Impiltur, observe the
marching armies and report back upon what they have seen, but the dragons will have orders to fly above the
range of weapons and normal spells and not to engage in combat. If they are fired upon with high-powered
magic that can reach their altitude, they have orders to ascend rapidly, out of range if possible, and to fly to
Castle Dragonblood as quickly as possible.
While Sammaster and Kargmelchina are doing almost everything possible to keep their vampire dragons from
being involved in combat, there will be one continuing exception in a campaign running the Northern Journey
adventure. Kargmelchina is genuinely frightened by the sigyll bearers ability to often act against her will, and to
a certain extent, she fears them because of this. For this reason, individual squads of draconians led by
vampire dragons will continue to be under way with the mission of destroying the sigyll bearers.
The vampire dragons who lead these squads are allowed to engage in combat against the sigyll bearers, if the
draconians cannot defeat them. But they have strict orders not to use their dragon form unless there is
absolutely no other alternative.
The Friendly and Enemy Counts

From this point on, it is essential for the game master to know the strength and nature of the forces on all sides
of the pending conflict. Sammaster and Kargmelchina have spies in the Bloodstone Kingdom whose identities
and descriptions are listed farther below in chapters 6 and 7 under the descriptions of the cities, villages and
settlements in which they live.
By the 1st day of Tarsakh, Sammaster and Kargmelchina will know from these spies that a huge troop
movement from Impiltur, Damara and within Vaasa to the Vaasan Plain is about to begin. At that point, no
further draconians will be sent into the Great Dale. Under certain circumstances airborne vampire dragons may
be sent into the Great Dale to deliver messages to Harbet Gall or Urgath Hurddh, although is unlikely, but they
will return afterward to Suncatcher or Vaasa and not remain in the Dale.
Because of the decision to send no new vampire dragons into the Dale, the reception station in Veidarhofn will
be ordered closed on the 1st day of Tarsakh. The vampire dragons and draconians there will join their
comrades in the ruins of Auststad, arriving there on the 3rd day of Tarsakh.
Sammaster and Kargmelchina will tend to believe that the hosts plan only military exercises, above all because
they don't think the Impilturians, Damarans and Vaasans are courageous or foolhardy enough to start a war with
the vampire dragons and draconians in the ruins of Castle Perilous, and they do not think Impiltur or the
Bloodstone Kingdom is able to attack them upon Suncatcher.
Nonetheless, they also know they could be wrong. They are staying on guard, and they are keeping their guard
up. They have no intention of sending vampire draconians that can defend them in Vaasa off to the Great Dale,
where there is no direct threat.
The following pages should be printed separately and used by the game master to begin tallying the counts of
friends and foes, making modifications every time one side or the other sustains losses and every time new
draconians are created in the ruins of Castle Perilous.
If you're running the Northern Journey adventure, it's probable that a number of draconians have been slain
already in your campaign, and some vampire dragons may have been destroyed as well. The checklists on the
following pages take into account all draconians that were slain in Parts 1 through 6 of Northern Journey, that is,
Silverymoon through The Great Dale.
If you are following the texts, none of the vampire dragons or draconians based in Castle Dragonblood atop
Suncatcher Mountain or in the ruins of Castle Perilous will have been destroyed yet. None of them have left
these sites yet to travel into areas where they might be engaged in combat.
Do not be too concerned about the lack of detail in the vampire dragon descriptions listed in the tables on the
following pages. The complete statistics for these creatures can be found in Version 8 of the Northern Journey
Campaign Guide under Castle Dragonblood Inhabitants and Castle Perilous Ruins Inhabitants in the section
Unofficial NPC Encounters.
Game Master's Calendars and Tally Sheets

One of the key points made by game masters who tested this product in advance was the need for extensive
action adjudication and tracking tools. As the Year of Wild Magic (1372 DR) moves through its months, some
matters still may be occupying your PCs in the Great Dale at the same time very momentous events are going
into motion in Impiltur and the Bloodstone Kingdom.
What is happening in many other places while your PCs are occupied in another area can have a critical impact
upon the encounters your PCs have later. Regardless of whether the PCs are in the Great Dale, Impiltur or the
Bloodstone Kingdom, a major war is brewing in Vaasa, and the factors that are in motion and building the stage
for that war likely will remain in motion, either unaffected or little affected by the actions of your PCs elsewhere.
The joint Bloodstone and Impilturian armies will launch their attack sometime after the start of the second
tenday in Flamerule, as soon as conditions are favorable. The exact date of the attack's launch is left up to
individual game masters.
In the pages that follow, you'll find a general calendar of events for the first three months, Hammer through
Ches, and then separate calendars for the Impilturian and Bloodstone armies for the months Tarsakh through
Flamerule. These calendars describe exactly where troops of the two armies are in movement on any given
day. This information is important, because as your PCs move to the north, they doubtless will have several
encounters with Impilturian and Bloodstone army troops marching to the Vaasan Plain.
In the pages thereafter, you also will find tally sheets to keep track of who and what is slain in remote battles
and suggested rules for adjudicating losses outside of the area where the PCs are.
This accessory assumes that the PCs will arrive in the Great Dale during the winter of the Year of the Unstrung
Harp (1371 DR) and the Year of Wild Magic. It also is assumed that they will arrive in Damara sometime in late
spring or early summer of the Year of Wild Magic. If your campaign cannot fulfill this schedule, you should
adjust the given dates accordingly.
Units of the Royal Bloodstone Army in Vaasa (5,200 Men, Dwarves and Half-Orcs)
• The king and his Men, elite unit, Bloodstone Village and Monastery of the Golden cup, 400 Men
• 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment, Command Brigade, Monastery of the Golden cup, 400 Men
• 1st Battalion, 2nd Regiment, Command Brigade, Bloodstone Village, 400 Men
• 3rd Battalion, 2nd Regiment, Command Brigade, Windless, 400 Men
• 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment, Princely Brigade Damara, Heliogabalus, 400 Men
• 3rd Battalion, 2nd Regiment, Princely Brigade Damara, Ostrav, 400 Man
• 2nd Battalion, 3rd Regiment, Princely Brigade Damara, Ravensburg, 400 Men
• 1st Battalion, 4th Regiment, Princely Brigade Damara, Kinbrace, 400 Men
• 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment, Princely Brigade Damara, Cutrock, 400 Men
• 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment, Princely Brigade Vaasa, Darmshall, 400 Men
• 1st Battalion, 2nd Regiment, Princely Brigade Vaasa, Hillsafar Hall, 400 Dwarves
• 3rd Battalion, 3rd Regiment, Princely Brigade Vaasa, Ironspur, 400 Dwarves
• 2nd Battalion, 4th Regiment, Princely Brigade Vaasa, Palishchuk, 400 Half-Orcs
Units of the Impilturian Army in Vaasa (5,000 Men)
• 4 Battalions from the Southern Sword in Lyrabar, 2,000 men

• 3 Battalions from the Northern Sword in Vordric-Dun, 1,500 men
• 3 Battalions from the Eastern Wave in Ilmwatch, 1,500 men
Hammer 1372 DR
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Tiamat
issues first
call of
monsters to
Castle
Perilous
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
860 goblins,
560 orcs, 90
ogres, 90
trolls and 12
hobgoblins
converted to
draconians
Alturiak 1372 DR
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
840 goblins, New total: King Gareth
550 orcs, 90 1700 goblins, informs
ogres, 92 1110 orcs, Impiltur of
trolls and 14 180 ogres, monster
hobgoblins 182 trolls movement to
converted to and 26 hob- Castle
draconians goblins Perilous
Ches 1372 DR
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Baron Damara and
Wingham Impiltur
sends 50 confer
half-orc magically,
scouts onto decide
Vaasan Plain secretly to
attack Castle
Perilous
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
890 goblins, New total: Kyrlraun 400 400
570 orcs, 85 2590 goblins, mobilizes in Damaran Damaran
ogres, 88 1680 orcs, Lyrabar, soldiers soldiers in
trolls and 14 265 ogres, Vordric-Dun leave Zarach
hobgoblins 210 trolls und Ilmwatch Ravensburg
converted to and 39 hob-
draconians goblins
Impiltur - Tarsakh 1372 DR
hobgoblins
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1,000 leave 1,000 betw. 1,000 betw. 1,000 betw. 1,000 1,000 1,000 betw. 1,000 Axe 1,000 Axe 1,000 Filur
Lyrabar Lyrabar and Lyrabar and Lyrabar and Hlammach Hlammach Hlammach Trail Trail
Hlammach Hlammach Hlammach and Axe Trail
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
1,000 leave 1,000 betw. 1,000 betw. 1,000 betw. 1,000 1,000 1,000 betw. 1,000: Axe 1,000: Axe 1,000 Filur:
Lyrabar. Lyrabar and Lyrabar and Lyrabar and Hlammach, Hlammach, Hlammach Trail, 1,000: Trail, 1,000: 1,000 betw.
1,000 Hlammach. Hlammach. Hlammach. 1,000 betw. 1,000 and Axe Guidodale Lenchford Lenchford,
Outentown. 1,000 betw. 1,000 betw. 1,000: Old Old Water Ilmwatch Trail. 1,000 Trailsend
Vassan war Outentown Outentown Water and Ilmwatch leave
camp: 1200 and Old and Old Ilmwatch
Bloodstone Water Water
soldiers
21 22 23 24 25* 26 27 28 29 30
1,000: 1,000 betw. 1,000 betw. 1,000 leave 1,000 betw. 1,000 Wye, 1,000 betw. 1,000 betw. 1,000: Mal- 1,000 betw.
Outentown, Outentown Outentown Vordric-Dun, Vordric-Dun 1,000: Wye and Wye and burg, 1,000: Malburg and
1,000 betw. and Old and Old 1,000: Old and Wye, Ilmwatch, Malburg, Malburg, Lenchford, Outentown,
Lenchford, Water. Water. Water. 1,000 betw. 1.000: 1,000 leave 1,000: 1,000: 1,000 betw.
Trailsend; 1,000: 1,000: 1,000: Old Water Southwatch Ilmwatch, Guidodale, Bloodstone Lenchford,
war camp Trailsend Daleport Kinbrace and Ilm- 1,000: Fort 1,000: Village Trailsend,
2,000 watch. 1,000: Kane Bloodstone 1,000:
Bloodstone Kinbrace Village Gatehold
soldiers
* 25 Tarsakh: New total converted in Castle Perilous: 3440 goblins, 2220 orcs, 353 ogres, 351 trolls and 50
Impiltur - Mirtul 1372 DR
hobgoblins
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1,000 Outen- 1,000 Outen- 1,000 betw. 500 leave 500 betw. 500 Wye, 500 betw. 500 betw. 500 Malburg, 500 betw.
town, 1,000 town, 1,000: Outentown Vordric-Dun, Vordric-Dun 1,000 Wye and Wye and 1,000: Malburg and
betw. Trailsend and Old Wa- 1,000 Old and Wye, Ilmwatch, Malburg, Malburg, Lenchford, Outentown,
Lenchford, ter, 1,000: Water, 1,000 betw. 1000: 1,000 leave 1,000: 1,000: 1,000 betw.
Trailsend, Daleport 1,000: Ilmwatch and Southwatch Ilmwatch, Guidodale, Bloodstone Lenchford
1,000 War Kinbrace Old Water, 1,000 Fort Bloodstone Village and Trails-
Camp + 1,000: Kane Village end, 1,000:
2800 Blood- Kinbrace Southgate
stone troops
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
500 Outen- 500 Outen- 500 betw. 500 Old 500 betw. 500 1,000 leave 1,000: 1,000: 1,000 betw.
town, 1,000 town, 1,000: Outentown Water, Old Water Ilmwatch, Ilmwatch. Guidodale, Lenchford, Lenchford
betw. Trailsend and Old 1,000: and 1000: 1,000: Fort 1,000 1,000 and Trails-
Lenchford Water, Kinbrace Ilmwatch, Southwatch Kane Bloodstone Bloodstone end, 1,000
and Trails- 1,000: 1,000: Village Village Southgate
end; War Daleport Kinbrace
Camp 2,000
+ 3600 Blood
stone troops
21 22 23 24 25 26 27* 28 29 30
1,000 betw. 1,000: 1,000: 1,000: 1,000: 1000: 1,000 leave 1,000: 1,000: 1,000 betw.
Lenchford Trailsend Daleport Kinbrace Kinbrace Southwatch Ilmwatch. Guidodale, Lenchford, Lenchford
and Trails- 1,000: Fort Bloodstone Bloodstone and Trails-
end; War Kane Village Village end, 1,000
Camp 3,000 Southgate
+ 4,000
Bloodstone
troops
* 27 Mirtul: New total converted in Castle Perilous: 3440 goblins, 2220 orcs, 353 ogres, 351 trolls and 50
Impiltur - Kythorn 1372 DR
hobgoblins
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1,000 betw. 1,000 : 1,000: 1,000: 1,000: 1,000: 1,000: Fort 1,000: 1,000: Gatehold
Lenchford Trailsend Daleport Kinbrace Kinbrace Southwatch Kane Bloodstone Bloodstone
and Trails- Village Village
end, War
Camp 4,000
+ 4,800
Bloodstone
troops
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
1,000 arrive
War Camp:
Total 5,000 +
4,000
Bloodstone
soldiers +
5200 Blood-
stone troops
21 22 23 24* 25 26 27 28 29 30
* 24 Kythorn: New total converted in Castle Perilous: 3440 goblins, 2220 orcs, 353 ogres, 351 trolls and 50
Impiltur - Flamerule 1372 DR
hobgoblins
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Joint army
ready to
attack at
most
favorable
time
21 22 23 24 25 26 27* 28 29 30
1
* 27 Flamerule: New total converted in Castle Perilous: 5153 goblins, 3378 orcs, 527 ogres, 466 trolls and 74
Bloodstone Kingdom - Tarsakh 1372 DR
hobgoblins
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
400 leave 400: Praka 400 arrive 800 leave 800: Morovar 400 leave 400 leave 400 between 400 between 400 between
Zarach Heliogabalus Heliogabalus Ostrav; 800: Cutrock, 400 Cutrock and Cutrock and Cutrock and
Goliad south of Kinbrace; Kinbrace; Kinbrace;
Windless, 400 Blood- 1,200 leave 1,200 Gate-
800 Fort stone Vil- Bloodstone hold
Kane lage; 800 Village
leave Fort
Kane
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
400 between 400 arrive 400: 800 leave 800 Goliad 800: 800: 800: 800: 800 leave
Cutrock and Kinbrace Kinbrace Kinbrace Fort Kane Fort Kane Bloodstone Gatehold Gatehold
Kinbrace; Village
1,200 arrive
war camp
21 22 23 24 25* 26 27 28 29 30
800 arrive 400 leave 400 arrive 800 arrive 800:
war camp Hillsafar Hall Darmshall, Gatehold Gatehold
Total: 2,000 800 leave
Darmshall
* 25 Tarsakh: New total converted in Castle Perilous: 3440 goblins, 2220 orcs, 353 ogres, 351 trolls and 50
Bloodstone Kingdom - Mirtul 1372 DR
hobgoblins
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
800 leave 400 leave 400: 400 arrive 800 leave 800 between
Gatehold, Ironspur High Walk Palishchuk Palishchuk Palishchuk
arrive war and war
camp, Total camp
in Camp:
2800 + 1000
Impiltur
soldiers
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
800 arrive 400 leave 800: 1,200:
war camp. Windless Bloodstone Gatehold
Total 3600 + Village,
2000 Impiltur 1,200 leave
soldiers Monastery of
the Cup
21 22 23 24 25 26 27* 28 29 30
1,200 arrive
war camp;
Total: 4,800
+ 3,000 Im-
piltur soldiers
* 27 Mirtul: New total converted in Castle Perilous: 3440 goblins, 2220 orcs, 353 ogres, 351 trolls and 50
Bloodstone Kingdom - Kythorn 1372 DR
hobgoblins
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
War Camp 400 King and 400 King and
total: his Men: his Men:
Bloodstone leave Blood- Gatehold
4,800 plus stone Village
Impiltur and
4,000 Monastery of
the Golden
cup
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
400 King and
his Men
arrive War
Camp. Total:
Bloodstone
5,000 plus
Impiltur
5,000
21 22 23 24* 25 26 27 28 29 30
* 24 Kythorn: New total converted in Castle Perilous: 3440 goblins, 2220 orcs, 353 ogres, 351 trolls and 50
Bloodstone Kingdom - Flamerule 1372 DR
hobgoblins
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Joint army
ready to
attack at
most
favorable
time
21 22 23 24 25 26 27* 28 29 30
* 27 Flamerule: New total converted in Castle Perilous: 5153 goblins, 3378 orcs, 527 ogres, 466 trolls and 74
Enemy in the Great Dale

(No new vampire dragons or draconians enter the Great Dale beginning with the 1st of Tarsakh. On that
day the reception station in Veidarhofn is closed and the vampire dragons and draconians there move on
to the ruins of Auststad, arriving on the 3rd day of Tarsakh.)
Monster Number - Number Killed* Total alive

Narling, vampire dragon, 1
Wizard 14, old red dragon
Fragostandir, vampire dragon 1
Wizard 11, mature adult red
dragon
Vampire dragon, Wizard 8, 1
adult black dragon
young adult blue dragon
young adult blue dragon
Vampire dragon, Sorcerer 6, 1
adult green dragon
young adult black dragon
young adult white dragon
juvenile white dragon
Troll draconian 10
Ogre draconian 9
Hobgoblin draconian 13
Orc draconian 24
Goblin draconian 26
* Be sure to subtract those killed in the ruins of Veidarhofn as well.
Enemy in Castle Dragonblood

(No vampire dragons or draconians in Castle Dragonblood will have been destroyed before the PCs
arrive there and do the job themselves.)
Monster Number - Number Killed Total alive

Sammaster, vampire dragon 1
lich, Wizard 26 (epic), ad-
vanced red dragon (epic)
65 HD, male.
Monster Number - Number Killed Total alive

Kargmelchina (avatar) vam- 1
pire dragon lich, Necromancer
24 (epic), advanced blue dra-
gon (epic), 64 HD, female
Knellict, vampire dragon com- 1
mander, Wizard 24, Assassin
2 (Epic 26), great wyrm red
dragon, 40 HD, male
Randgha, vampire dragon, 1
commander of the guard,
Sorcerer 18, very old blue
dragon, 30 HD, female
Ragzigul, vampire dragon, 1
laboratory master, Necroman-
cer 18, old red dragon, 28 HD,
male
Tarflea, vampire dragon, 1
group commander 1, Sorcerer
10, mature adult blue dragon,
24 HD, female
Ninnea, vampire dragon, 1
9, mature adult black dragon,
22 HD, female
Larthur, vampire dragon, 1
group commander 3, Wizard
9, adult green dragon, 20 HD,
male
Sarbina, vampire dragon, 1
7, adult white dragon, 18 HD,
female
Multar, vampire dragon, 1
group commander 5, Wizard
5, juvenile blue dragon, 15
HD, male
Rark, vampire dragon, 1
5, juvenile black dragon, 13
HD, male
Troll draconian 6
Ogre draconian 6
Hobgoblin draconian 6
Orc draconian 12
Goblin draconian 12
Enemy in the ruins of Castle Perilous

(All vampire dragons and draconians that were destroyed after the beginning of the Great Dale segment
came either from Auststad or from the ruins of Castle Perilous, but not from Castle Dragonblood. The
vampire dragons in the ruins - 32 at the start - are listed with the named leaders first and the remaining
subcommanders afterward, ordered by dragon color.)
Monster Number, start Number Killed Total alive

of Bloodstone
Grandl, vampire dra- 1
gon, grand necroman-
cer, Necromancer 24
(epic), wyrm red dragon
HD 37, male
Dagget, vampire dra- 1
gon, base command-
er, Wizard 22 (epic),
wyrm blue dragon
HD 36, male
Wiluna, vampire dra- 1
gon, deputy comman-
der, Sorcerer 22
(epic), wyrm green
dragon, HD 35,
female
Zurn, vampire dragon, 1
commander of the
South Wing, Sorcerer
19, ancient red dra-
gon, HD 34, male
Ghiela, vampire dra- 1
gon, commander of
the East Wing, Wizard
18, ancient blue dra-
gon, HD 33, female
Siehbar, vampire dra- 1
gon, commander of
the West Wing, Sor-
cerer 16, ancient
green dragon, HD 32,
male
Wrultar, vampire dra- 1
gon, commander of
the North Wing, Wizard
10, ancient black dra-
gon, HD 31, male
Monster Number, Number Killed Wing Total alive

start of
Blood-
stone
Narma, vampire dra- 1 Base Wing
gon, commander of Commander
the Base Wing, Sor-
cerer 9, ancient white
dragon, HD 30,
female
Red vampire dragon, 1 Unassigned
Wizard/Sorcerer 8,
adult red dragon, 22
HD
Wizard/Sorcerer 7,
young adult red dra-
gon, 19 HD
Wizard/Sorcerer 5,
juvenile red dragon,
16 HD
Blue vampire dragon, 1 Unassigned
Wizard/Sorcerer 8,
mature adult blue
dragon, 24 HD
Blue vampire dragon, 1 Unassigned
Wizard/Sorcerer 6,
young adult blue
dragon, 18 HD
Blue vampire dragon, 2 1 Unassigned
Wizard/Sorcerer 4, 1 South
juvenile blue dragon,
15 HD
Green vampire dra- 2 1 East
gon, Wizard/Sorcerer 1 North
7, mature adult green
dragon, 23 HD
Green vampire dra- 1 West
gon, Wizard/Sorcerer
5, adult green dragon,
20 HD
Green vampire dra- 1 Base
3, juvenile green dra-
gon, 14 HD
Monster Number, Number Killed Wing Total alive

start of
Blood-
stone
Black vampire dra- 2 1 South
gon, Wizard/Sorcerer 1 East
6, mature adult black
dragon, 22 HD
Black vampire dra- 2 1 North
gon, Wizard/Sorcerer 1 West
4, young adult black
dragon, 16 HD
Black vampire dra- 1 Base
4, juvenile black
dragon, 13 HD
White vampire dra- 2 1 South
gon, Wizard/Sorcerer 1 East
5, adult white dragon,
18 HD
White vampire dra- 2 1 North
gon, Wizard/Sorcerer 1 West
3, young adult white
dragon, 15 HD
White vampire dra- 1 Base
1, juvenile white
dragon, 12 HD
Troll draconian 600 (90 monthly)
Ogre draconian 600 (90 monthly)
Hobgoblin draconian 80 (12 monthly)
Orc draconian 3,700 (560 monthly)
Goblin draconian 4,750* (860 monthly)
* The 950 goblins selected to be slaughtered and butchered are not included in this figure.
GAME MASTER NOTE: One dragon vampire, whom Kargmelchina and Sammaster believe to be Krepp
Nargthong, but who really is Szarkh Gortth, has escaped the control of the two and is bound instead and
enslaved to the spirit of the advanced red great wyrm Grafvitnir. Further information on Gortth can be
found in the Northern Journey Campaign Guide Version 8.
Friends in the Vaasan War Camp

Bloodstone Forces
Description Number - Number Killed* Total alive

King Gareth Dragonsbane, 1
Paladin (Ilmater) 26, (Epic)
Commander
General Liam MacAroon, 1
Paladin (Ilmater) 24 (Epic),
Deputy Commander
Brigadier Finia Driscoll, Paladin
(Ilmater) 18, Strategist
Brigadier Kardlnyr, Paladin
(Ilmater) 18, Adjutant
Duke Olwen, Ranger 24 (Epic), 1
Commander, Damaran 4th and
5th Regiment units
Duke Riordan, Bard 24 (Epic), 1
Commander, 2nd Brigade
Duke Dormythyrr, Fighter 14, 1
Commander, Command
Brigade Regiments
Baron Garumbelly, Fighter 17, 1
Commander, Vaasan
Regiments
Baron Celedon, Rogue 14, 1
Wizard 10 (Epic 24),
Commander, Damaran 1st, 2nd
and 3rd Regiment units
Mariabronne, Ranger 12, 1
Scout Commander
Myrddin Viligoth, Wizard 18, 1
Fighter 4 (Epic 22),
Commander, War Magi
Friar Dugald, High Priest 1
(Ilmater) 25 (Epic), Comman-
der of the War Priests
Baron Donlevy, Paladin (Il- 1
mater) 5, Aristocrat 5, aide to
the commander

Wizard/Sorcerer 13, War 1
Mage
Mage
Mage
Mage
Mage
Mage
Cleric (various good) 14, war 1
priest
priest
priest
priest
priest
priest
priest
Brigade commander, Paladin 1
(Ilmater) 10
Battalion commander, Paladin 2
(Ilmater) 8
Company commander, 10
Paladin (Ilmater) 6
Brigade commander, 1
Fighter 10
Battalion commander, 6
Fighter 8
Fighter 6

Half-Orc Scout, Ranger 10 10
Squad Leader, Fighter 5 128
Soldier, Fighter 4 128
Soldier, Fighter 1 1,000
Soldier, Warrior 3 500
Soldier, Warrior 1 1,000
GAME MASTER NOTE: The tables for the Damaran forces assume that the joint Bloodstone-Impilturian
force will attack in mid-Flamerule and that the PCs will have finished with Castle Dragonblood within a
month of that and then be on the scene in the ruins of Castle Perilous to take on their mission there.
However, there will be many campaigns that won't stick to or even manage such a timetable.
In the early stages of the Vaasan Plain, the joint attack force will be spending a lot of its time wiping out
goblin and orc draconians, while the stronger draconians and the vampire dragons hold back for the main
defense. As long as the Bloodstone-Impilturian force doesn't proceed too quickly, this will work rather
well, because the mercury pool will be turning out 560 new orc draconians and 8600 new goblin
draconians monthly as replacements. That's more than 180 orc draconians and 280 goblin draconians a
tenday. This will go on as long as nothing is undertaken to prevent new monsters from answering
Sammaster's magical call.
As long as the main foes are goblin and orc draconians, losses to the Bloodstone-Impilturian host will be
modest but cumulative. With time, however, the alliance will begin to be outnumbered. When this
occurs, you can supply the Bloodstone host with some reinforcements. These will be volunteers and
adventurers from within the Bloodstone Kingdom and the Moonsea Region who have learned of the war
and decide to join the Bloodstone-Impilturian side, some because they believe in the cause and others
because they hope the Bloodstone Kingdom will reward them with opportunities for a better life after the
war.
Such volunteers should be added to the force at whatever rate they're needed, as long as the sums
remain credible. The majority will be warriors and fighters. There may also - for religious reasons - be a
respectable influx of clerics. Some lower and middle level wizards, sorcerers and rangers will be among
the volunteers, and such a battle is sure to draw bards, some even of middle-high rank. Most of the
volunteers, however, will have levels ranging from 1 to 7 and weighted toward the lower end.
Additional volunteers who move north from Impiltur to join the Swords and Wand of Impiltur there will be
minimal, although some important paladins may be replaced if they fall, and if needed, the queen will
send up to 40 wizards and sorcerers with levels 1 to 5.
Friends in the Vaasan War Camp

Impilturian Forces

General War Captain 1
Haelimbrar, Paladin (Ilmater)
26 (Epic), Commander
Admiral War Captain Rilim- 1
braun, Paladin (Ilmater) 20,
Deputy Commander
Holy Strategist Lashilana, 1
Priestess (Red Knight) 17,
Adjutant
War Captain Silmgar, Paladin 1
(Ilmater) 13, Commander 1st
Brigade
War Captain Soargilm, Pala- 1
din (Ilmater) 13, Commander
2nd Brigade
Archwand Daerthnur, Invoker 1
25 (Epic), Commander Wand
of Impiltur
Battleguard General Wilmbrar, 1
Priest (Tempus) 19, Comman-
der of the war priests
Wizard/Sorcerer 14, Wand of 2
Impiltur
Impiltur
Impiltur
Impiltur
priest
priest
priest
priest

priest
Brigade commander, Paladin 1
(Ilmater) 10
Battalion commander, Paladin 2
(Ilmater) 8
Paladin (Ilmater) 6
Brigade commander, 1
Fighter 10
Battalion commander, 6
Fighter 8
Fighter 6
Scout, Ranger 10 6
Scout, Ranger 8 10
Scout, Ranger 6 16
Sergeant, Squad Commander, 128
Fighter 5
Sergeant, Fighter 4 128
Soldier, Fighter 1 1,000
Soldier, Warrior 1 1,000
Bloodstone Book 1 – Page 260
Bloodstone Command Structure
Commander
Adjutant Deputy Strategist Commander, Commander,

Commander War Magi War Priests
Aide to Commander 2 Brigade Commanders Scout Commander War Magi War Priests
4 Battalion Commanders
4 Company Commanders
Impilturian Command Structure
Commander
Commander, War Priests Deputy Commander Cdr., Wand of Impiltur
War Priests 2 Brigade Commanders Strategist War Magi
4 Battalion Commanders
4 Company Commanders
4 Squad Sergeants
Alturiak to Kythorn
During these months, we assume the sigyll bearers will be crossing the Great Dale, dealing with Harbet Gall
and the Dragon Cult and then heading on into the Bloodstone Kingdom. The Impilturian and Bloodstone hosts
are marching toward and gradually reaching the Vaasan Plain. The Khanate War in the East has lapsed into an
unofficial cease fire. The hobgoblins have been contained in the Giantspires. Forces from Impiltur, the
Bloodstone Duchy of Soravia and the Freemen of the Great Dale guard the perimeter of the Giantspires which
are the border of the hobgoblin Acragash Khanate. The are occasional skirmishes between the Bloodstone,
Impilturian and Freemen forces on one side and hobgoblins on the other, but for the most part, the war horns
are silent in Soravia and the Giantspires.
Arrival of the PCs - Non-Northern-Journey Campaigns

At some point, your PCs will cross into the Bloodstone Kingdom, and they could do that from any direction.
Most likely the PCs either will enter southern Damara from Impiltur or the Great Dale or western Vaasa from the
Moonsea region and Thar.
If you're using Bloodstone as a campaign setting expansion for the Forgotten Realms, some of the elements
defined here for the Northern Journey adventure may be impractical or even impracticable in your campaign.
The Northern Journey adventure uses this Bloodstone accessory as a threshold to bring high level characters
over into epic levels of 21 and above.
Your campaign, however, may involve PCs who have only levels 1-3. Don't let that trouble you. When used as
a campaign setting expansion, our Bloodstone Kingdom is like any other part of the Realms. It has epic, high,
middle and low level NPCs do a wide variety of things. You can campaign with 1st level PCs in Zhentil Keep
without having them engage in mortal combat with Fzoul Chembryl. You also can campaign with 1st level PCs
in our version of the Bloodstone Kingdom without having them tangle with Sammaster, Kargmelchina, vampire
dragons or the epic archwizardess Shandaril of the Iron Throne.
There are a lot of other possibilities open to low or middle level PCs in the Bloodstone Kingdom that we've
defined. You'll find some adventure suggestions in Section 2.1 How Can a Non-NJ-Game Master Use This
Work? Here are some more ideas on how low level characters can go to work in the Bloodstone Kingdom:
• When the PCs are in Lenchford in the Barony of Polten, they pick up scuttlebutt that the baron's
Chancellor Dargun in Trailsend is looking for adventurers to hire for a special mission. If the PCs arrive in
Vaasa, they can hear the same scuttlebutt at Swampgate or Southgate, except that it will be Baron
Garumbelly Hillsafar looking to hire adventurers. Whichever you choose, either Chancellor Dargun or
Baron Garumbelly will be concerned about signs that the Iron Throne is gaining influence in the barony,
however, the Throne is a shadowy organization, and the Bloodstone Riders are having a hard time
getting a grip on it. The chancellor or baron wants to try hiring a group of seemingly insignificant
adventurers to dig into things. This opens a nearly endless thread. While fulfilling the assignment, the
PCs also may pick up and follow threads on the activities of the Zhentarim, the Xvimist assassin monks,
the church of Mask, etc.
• The PCs might hire on as mercenaries protecting caravans. If they do such work, they could start out in
Lenchford and work their way across Damara and Vaasa to Swampgate or Southgate, the threshold to
the Moonsea region. They could work the same route in the opposite direction, from the Moonsea to
Lenchford on Damara's border with Impiltur. If they have their eyes open, they should see several
possibilities for adventure along the way. At the next city or village, they can draw their caravan pay and
set out on their own. Such open-ended campaigns can be a lot of fun in the hands of the right game
master and the right PCs.
We also know through playtesting and E-Mail from other game masters that they want to integrate elements of
the NJ adventure into their own campaigns without running the adventure per se. These game masters
sometimes have the problem that their PCs aren't of high enough levels to take on the key villains.
This, too, need not be a problem, if the game master is willing to modify a few of the things that we've set down
here in black and white. First and foremost, you may have to adjust timeline elements. In the NJ adventure, the
Bloodstone Kingdom and Impiltur start the Vaasan War against Castle Perilous in Flamerule of the Year of Wild
Magic (1372 DR), and Sammaster and Kargmelchina plan to begin their conquest of the Bloodstone Kingdom.
the Vast, Impiltur and the Great Dale in the Year of the Rogue Dragons (1373 DR).
That is, of course, too much too soon for a campaign dealing with middle level PCs in the Year of Wild Magic
(1372 DR). The solution is simple. Stretch the future timetable out. Diminish the amount of magical power that
Tiamat lends to the creation of draconians in the ruins of Castle Perilous.
Kargmelchina and Sammaster will need more time then to build their army. They may not be able to begin their
invasion until the Year of the Risen Elfkin (1375 DR) or the Year of the Bent Blade (1376 DR). The Bloodstone
Kingdom and Impiltur will not be under as much pressure to act quickly against Castle Perilous. The Vaasan
War might not begin then until the Year of Lightning Storms (1374 DR) or the Year of the Risen Elfkin (1375
DR).
During this delayed time frame, your PCs can be gaining experience and new levels in other matters in the
Bloodstone Kingdom, preparing them for the time when they're ready to face the kind of foes suited for
adventurers on the threshold of epic levels.
What can your PCs do during this time? The local descriptions of this accessory are filled with adventure
hooks. Hunts of the Iron Throne, the Zhentarim, the church of Mask, etc., are naturals. They can join the
Bloodstone Riders and spy on Castle Perilous, having, perhaps, even a few preparatory clashes with lesser
vampire dragons.
The Khanate War is a natural and exciting opening for game masters who need to give their characters
something to do. In the NJ timeline, the Giantspires are sealed by the end of the Year of the Unstrung Harp
(1371 DR) and the war has simmered down. But it doesn't have to be that way. Keep the war going strong in
your campaign and let your PCs go to the front, or, even better, on a special mission behind enemy lines.
In the course of things, the PCs might even capture one or more of the legendary 10 times 10 swords of
Impiltur. Imphras I gained these weapons from the tower of Soargar in Ilmwatch after defeating the hobgoblins
of the Giantspires nearly three centuries ago, but they were lost when his descendant, King Imbrar, marched to
war against the hobgoblins with the 100 swords in the Year of the Luminar Procession (1127 DR). Neither the
king and his soldiers nor the 10 times 10 swords returned home again. George Krashos of Australia did an
excellent article on these swords for Dragon magazine in the late 1990s.
Finally, there is the question of the magical sigylls and the sigyll bearers of the Northern Journey adventure in a
non-NJ campaign. Fortunately, the sigylls and the sigyll bearers are absolutely unnecessary in the Bloodstone
segment. You can use them or ignore them as you choose. The issue of the sigylls complicates matters for
non-NJ-game masters in early segments of NJ, but they serve only to draw NJ PCs to Castle Dragonblood and
the ruins of Castle Perilous in Bloodstone.
Game masters who have been testing NJ have reported using different approaches to the sigyll question.
Some have had Szarkh Gortth brand their middle level PCs for the first time with the sigylls in mid-campaign,
during the segments Backlands, Tale of Two Liches or Impiltur. Others have had the sigyll bearers being NPCs
carrying out the NJ adventure in the background, with the PCs hearing of their deeds now and then. Still other
game masters have ignored the sigylls completely. All three approaches have worked well.
Having the NJ sigyll bearers working in the background also can be a good tool for gaining levels for your PCs
without changing our timeline. In this variation, it also works if your PCs hear of the sigyll bearers for the first
time in the Bloodstone Kingdom. While the NPC sigyll bearers are busy working within the timeline and taking
care of Sammaster and Kargmelchina atop Suncatcher Mountain, the PCs can be in the vanguard of the
Bloodstone or Impilturian troops waging war against the denizens of Castle Perilous, gaining experience points
and levels.
When the right time comes, your PCs - not the NPC sigyll bearers - can be the ones who lead the expedition
into the ruins of Castle Perilous and scour the place.
Arrival of the PCs - Northern-Journey Campaigns

At some point, your PCs will cross into the Bloodstone Kingdom. The PCs probably enter the kingdom at
Lenchford, go onto to Trailsend and then cross Lake Mogador and go through Praka, Heliogabalus, Goliad and
Fort Kane to Bloodstone Pass. Some PCs may, however, make the more dangerous run around the border of
Narfell and the foot of the Giantspires, gradually entering the kingdom over the Freemen's Hold of the Great
Dale, Fort Imphras II, Fort Imphras I and Steppenhall.
The game master will have to keep track not only of the PCs but also of the events that are going on
independent of their actions and decisions. King Gareth is aware of the sigyll bearers who are heading their
way and knows something of their tale through reports from Archwand Daerthnur of Impiltur. He is anxious to
meet with the sigyll bearers. He and the leaders of Impiltur believe it is the fate of the sigyll bearers to deal with
the foe in the castle atop Suncatcher Mountain. The king will do his best to persuade the PCs to take on that
mission while he and Haelimbrar of Impiltur lead their troops into battle against the denizens of Castle Perilous.
The Bloodstone and Impilturian troops are scheduled to begin reaching the Vaasan Plain War Camp in late
Mirtul, and the full contingent of more than 10,000 men should arrive by the end of the last tenday in Kythorn.
The two high commanders, King Gareth and General War Captain Haelimbrar of Impiltur, will depart Bloodstone
Village in the first days of Flamerule and arrive in the war camp before the end of the first tenday in Flamerule.
This schedule will determine where your PCs at last will meet King Gareth, either in his manor in Bloodstone
Village, on the march route or in the Vaasan war camp. The joint host will begin its one-day march to attack the
ruins of Castle Perilous on the first day of the second tenday in Flamerule. From that point on, the Vaasan war
is raging. At the end of each tenday, the game master should make the necessary dice checks (see below) to
determine what occurred during the preceding tenday.
CAREFULLY CONSIDER how you want to react if the dice show King Gareth, Haelimbrar or some other
key NPC being slain in battle! The Northern Journey adventure makes no attempt to protect these
people from death, and the Bloodstone Kingdom and Impiltur can survive without them. However, if key
NPCs die and cannot be resurrected in your campaign, it may limit your own possibilities for the time after
the Vaasan War. We can offer you little help in deciding whether you wish to let some of those who are
slain by the dice actually die. You must weigh how you as game master wish things to be in your
campaign after the war. If the dice show a key NPC being slain and you do not wish to accept that result
at that time, simply negate it and reroll!
Running the Vaasan War

Once Flamerule comes in your campaign, the Bloodstone and Impilturian troops in Vaasa will move out of their
war camp and begin trying to conquer the ruins of Castle Perilous. This will not be a fast war. The draconians
are well-entrenched in the ruins, and vampire dragons will fly attacks upon the Bloodstone-Impilturian alliance at
times.
At the end of each tenday beginning with the second tenday in Flamerule, you should make a series of dice rolls
to determine what events took place in the war during the preceding 10 days. After making that determination,
consider the result and, if necessary, modify or even fudge it to meet the needs of your campaign. Don't let
unfortunate dice rolls derail the campaign itself.
As an example, if the dice tell you that King Gareth is slain in battle during the first tenday of war, they have
given you a spectacular result, to be sure, but using this result may complicate your campaign in a manner that
is simply detrimental to gaming. If that's the case, change the result. You should use the dice as a consultant
but never forget that you, as the game master, and not the dice are responsible for giving your players and their
PCs an enjoyable game.
The dice rolls also may set up a situation where one side clearly begins losing the war. That's neither good nor
bad in itself; it's simply a neutral factor. But if a winner and a loser begin emerging too soon, it may throw your
campaign needlessly off the track. If so, reduce the dice-indicated losses on the losing side. Your campaign
will run best when you use the dice to help you establish trends but reserve key decisions for yourself as game
master.
FIRST ROLL - Overall Trend, 1d20
Roll Result
1-8 No trend, minor losses both sides
9-13 No trend, serious losses both sides
14-16 Alliance minor losses, Castle Perilous serious losses
17-19 Alliance serious losses, Castle Perilous minor losses
20 Critical loss, use critical loss table
CRITICAL LOSS - Step 1, 1d20

(Use only when the table FIRST ROLL indicates a critical loss!)
Roll Result
1-7 No trend, minor losses both sides, Alliance critical loss
7-12 No trend, minor losses both sides, Castle Perilous critical loss
13-14 No trend, serious losses both sides, Alliance critical loss
15-16 No trend, serious losses both sides, Castle Perilous critical loss
17 Alliance minor losses, Castle Perilous serious losses, Alliance critical loss
18 Alliance serious losses, Castle Perilous minor losses, Alliance critical loss
19 Alliance minor losses, Castle Perilous serious losses, Castle Perilous critical loss
20 Alliance serious losses, Castle Perilous minor losses, Castle Perilous critical loss
Friendly Minor Losses

Roll Result
6d20 Soldiers (Various) (BK)
6d20 Soldiers (Various) (I)
1d10 Squad Leaders (BK)
1d10 Sergeants (I)
1d10 Scouts (BK)
1d10 Scouts (I)
50% 1 Company Commander (BK)
40% 1 Company Commander (I)
5% 1 Mage (NK or I)
5% 1 Priest (BK or I)
Friendly Serious Losses

Roll Result
10d20 Soldiers (Various) (BK)
10d20 Soldiers (Various) (I)
1d20 Squad Leaders (BK)
1d20 Sergeants (I)
1d20 Scouts (BK)
1d20 Scouts (I)
75% 1d4 Company Commanders (BK)
60% 1d4 Company Commanders (I)
20% 1d4 Mag1 (NK or I)
20% 1d4 Priests (BK or I)
Friendly Critical Losses

NOTE: Any time the dice chooses an NPC who already is dead, throw again until a living NPC is chosen.
CRITICAL LOSS - Alliance, 1d20

(Use only when the table CRITICAL LOSS - Step 1 indicates a critical loss for the Alliance! BK = Bloodstone
Kingdom, I = Impiltur.)
Roll Result
1-2 Baron Donlevy of Polten (BK)
3-4 Mariabronne, Bloodstone Riders (BK)
5-6 Myrddin Viligoth, Bloodstone Riders (BK)
7-8 Brigadier Finia Driscoll, Strategist (BK)
9-10 Holy Strategist Lashilana (I)
11-12 Brigadier Kardlnyr, Adjutant (BK)
13-14 Friar Dugald, War Priest Commander (BK)
15-16 Battleguard General Wilmbrar, War Priest Commander (I)
17-20 Member of the High Command (see table)
HIGH COMMAND - Alliance, 1d20

(Use only when the table CRITICAL LOSS - Alliance indicates a High Command death. BK = Bloodstone
Kingdom, I = Impiltur.))
Roll Result
1-3 Baron Donlevy of Polten (BK)
4-6 General Liam MacAroon, Deputy Commander (BK)
7-8 Baron Garumbelly of Sunderland (BK)
9-10 Duke Dormythyrr of Brandiar (BK)
11-12 War Captain Soargilm (I)
13-14 War Captain Silmgar (I)
15-16 Admiral War Captain Rilimbraun, Deputy Commander (I)
17 Baron Celedon of Morov (BK)
18 Duke Riordan of Carmathan (BK)
19 Duke Olwen of Soravia (BK)
20 Top Command (see table)
TOP COMMAND - Alliance, 1d20

(Use only when the table HIGH COMMAND - Alliance indicates a Top Command death. BK = Bloodstone
Kingdom, I = Impiltur.))
Roll Result
1-7 Archwand Daerthnur (I)
8-14 General War Captain Haelimbrar (I)
15-20 King Gareth Dragonsbane (BK)
Enemy Minor Losses

Roll Result
20d20 Goblin Draconians
10d20 Orc Draconians
50% 1d10 Hobgoblin Draconians
1d10 Ogre Draconians
1d10 Troll Draconians
30% 1 Unnamed Vampire Dragon
Enemy Serious Losses

Roll Result
40d20 Goblin Draconians
20d20 Orc Draconians
80% 1d10 Hobgoblin Draconians
2d20 Ogre Draconians
2d20 Troll Draconians
1d4 Unnamed Vampire Dragon
Enemy Critical Losses

NOTE: Any time the dice chooses an NPC who already is dead, throw again until a living NPC is chosen. If
four of the seven named vampire dragons at Castle Perilous are slain, Kargmelchina and Sammaster will send
all of the vampire dragons at Castle Dragonblood except Knellict to the ruins of Castle Perilous. If that already
is the case in your campaign, use the table CRITICAL LOSS, Castle Perilous expanded.
CRITICAL LOSS - Castle Perilous, 1d20

(Use only when the table CRITICAL LOSS - Step 1 indicates a critical loss for Castle Perilous.)
Roll Result
1-4 Wrultar (Wizard 10, Black HD 31)
5-8 Siehbar (Sorcerer 16, Green HD 32)
9-12 Ghiela (Wizard 18, Blue HD 33)
13-16 Zurn (Sorcerer 19, Red HD 34
17-18 Narma (Sorcerer 9, White HD 30)
19 Wiluna (Sorcerer 22, Green HD 35)
20 Dagget (Wizard 22, Blue HD 36)
CRITICAL LOSS - Castle Perilous expanded, 1d20

(Use only when the table CRITICAL LOSS - Step 1 indicates a critical loss for Castle Perilous.)
Roll Result
1-2 Rark (Sorcerer 5, Black 13 HD)
3-4 Multar (Wizard 5, Blue HD 15)
5-6 Sarbina (Sorcerer 7, White HD 18)
7-8 Larthur (Wizard 9, Green HD 20)
9-10 Ninnea (Sorcerer 9, Black HD 22)
11 Tarflea (Sorcerer 10, Blue HD 24)
12 Narma (Sorcerer 9, White HD 30)
13 Wrultar (Wizard 10, Black HD 31)
14 Siehbar (Sorcerer 16, Green HD 32)
15 Ragzigul (Necromancer 18, Red HD 28)
16 Randgha (Sorcerer 18, Blue 30 HD)
17 Ghiela (Wizard 18, Blue HD 33)
18 Zurn (Sorcerer 19, Red HD 34
19 Wiluna (Sorcerer 22, Green HD 35)
20 Dagget (Wizard 22, Blue HD 36)
The Vaasan War - the Autumn Winddown

By the onset of autumn, the PCs and the Bloodstone-Impiltur-Alliance should have things wrapped up. The
PCs should have destroyed Kargmelchina and Sammaster (short version of NJ) or have destroyed
Kargmelchina and Sammaster's Suncatcher facet (long version of NJ) and ended the threat of Castle
Dragonblood.
The Bloodstone-Impiltur-Alliance should have vanquished most of the enemy in the ruins of Castle Perilous, and
the PCs should at least have started on their mission to destroy the mercury pool and the pool of blood beneath
the ruins.
However, things aren't always as they should be. Your PCs may have been too slow to meet this timetable. If
things are unresolved by mid-Eleint, the Bloodstone and Impilturian troops will have to make their pullback for
the winter. They will resume the Vaasan War during Tarsakh of the following Year of the Rogue Dragons (1373
DR), but the war will take on some new aspects:
• If the PCs managed to destroy Harbet Gall, the Freemen of the Great Dale will send 1,000 soldiers to aid
the alliance. They will reach the Vaasan battlefield in late Mirtul of the Year of Rogue Dragons.
• Kargmelchina will continue to turn out as many draconians as possible over the winter, and they will
attempt to break the alliance lines and invade Bloodstone Pass in Tarsakh.
If the alliance troops withdraw in mid-Eleint of the current Year of Wild Magic (1372 DR), they will be in a retreat
situation. The draconians of the ruins of Castle Perilous will not pursue them, but the vampire dragons will
conduct regular aerial attacks for the last two tendays in Eleint and the first tenday in Marpenoth. The following
tables will help you decide what happens at the end of each of these tendays:
FIRST ROLL - Overall Trend, 1d20
Roll Result
1-10 Minor alliance losses
11-14 Major alliance losses
15-16 Minor alliance losses, 1d4 vampire dragons downed
17-18 Major alliance losses, 2d4 vampire dragons downed
19 Minor alliance losses, 1d4 vampire dragons downed with critical alliance loss (see table)
20 Major alliance losses, 2d4 vampire dragons downed with critical alliance loss (see table)
To determine the exact losses, use the tables above.

5.2 Resisting the Sigylls in the Bloodstone Lands

For Northern Journey campaigns only
Through the The Great Dale, Part 6 of NJ, the red sigylls on your PCs' arms have seemed to be drawing them
onward. As you've already learned, there actually are two different sources of magic drawing the PCs, and
since their arrival in the Vast (Impiltur, Part 5 of NJ), they sometimes try to draw the PCs in opposite directions
at the same time.
• One source of power has been in the Sigylls of Contagion. Sammaster and Kargmelchina control this
magic, which is embedded within the red sigylls on the PCs' arms. (For more information on this magical
item, see the Northern Journey Campaign Guide.)
• The second source of power has been the spell Coins of Binding, which trapped the PCs after they saw
the ancient dwarven coins that the vampire dragon Szarkh Gortth showed them. This spell is controlled
by the dragon spirit Grafvitnir. (For more information on this spell, see the Northern Journey Campaign
Guide.)
Once the PCs have succeeded in destroying Harbet Gall in the Great Dale and the
Tiamatist Dragon Cult cell in Tower Threespires in the Dale (which they by all means
should have done before arriving in the Bloodstone Kingdom), Kargmelchina and
Sammaster will abandon their attempts to control the PCs through the one remaining
Sigyll.
The two are preparing for war against the surrounding lands. Their attempts to steer
the PCs have met with little success since the sigyll bearers crossed the Dragon
Reach. Instead, they will prepare to encounter and deal with the PCs, if and when
Illustration Copyright © 2004-05, they reach Castle Dragonblood. From the start of this Bloodstone segment of NJ,
Joan I. Guardiet, all rights reserved.
Kargmelchina and Sammaster will completely ignore the sigylls, although they
The last sigyll:
continue to remain intact and active.
Castle Dragonblood
From this point on, when the PCs are being drawn to a goal, it will be the will of Grafvitnir's spirit, imposed
through the Coins of Binding, which pulls the PCs in a direction other than that in which they might want to go.
But with the higher levels the PCs now have attained, Grafvitnir's ability to force them in a certain direction is
dwindling.
Grafvitnir's main problem in dealing with the PCs is in the fact that he is the spirit of a dragon, but he has no
material element with which he can draw directly upon Faerûn's magical weave. To exert the magical power in
which the Coins of Binding encircled the PCs, the spirit of Grafvitnir must use the material element of his
vampire dragon in bondage Szarkh Gortth. However, his ability to channel Gortth's power has its limits.
As of the time the PCs cross the border into the Bloodstone Kingdom, he can do any one of the following once
daily per PC, within the limitations explained below:
• He can issue a mental command to the PCs at anytime he wishes to do so, without drawing upon Gortth's
power. The PCs will be aware that someone or something is trying to command them. They will be able
to resist this command simply by willing to do so. No saving throw is necessary.
• Drawing only lightly upon Gortth's power, he can issue a stronger command which the PCs' can resist
with a successful save for Will against DC 15 (D&D 3E) or a successful save against spells (AD&D 2E).
Each use (i.e. per PC) of this power costs Gortth one 1st level spell slot for that day.
• Drawing heavily upon Gortth's power, he can issue a strong command which the PCs' can resist with a
successful save for will against DC 22 (D&D 3E) or a successful save against spells at a penalty of -3
(AD&D 2E). Each use (i.e. per PC) of this power costs Gortth one 3rd level spell slot for that day.
Grafvitnir can use this power only twice per PC within any tenday.
• Drawing intensely upon Gortth's power, he can issue a dominating command which the PCs' can resist
with a successful save for will against the normal DC of 28 (D&D 3E) or a successful save against spells
at a penalty of -6 (AD&D 2E). Each use (i.e. per PC) of this power costs Gortth one spell slot of each
level for that day. Grafvitnir can use this power only once per PC within any month.
• Drawing completely upon Gortth's power, he can issue an overwhelming command which the PCs' can
resist with a successful save for will against DC 35 (D&D 3E) or a successful save against spells at a
penalty of -9 (AD&D 2E). Each use (i.e. per PC) of this power completely incapacitates Gortth magically
for one entire day. Grafvitnir can use this power 5 times during the PCs' stay in the Bloodstone Kingdom.
Therefore, you must keep track of the number of times he issues such a command.
5.3 The (Empty?) Pot of Gold at Adventure's End

Regardless of whether you're running the Northern Journey adventure or using this segment as a campaign
setting expansion for your own campaign, some important events will occur once your campaign is finished with
this accessory.
The key issue involves the double threat of Suncatcher Mountain in the Barony of Sunderland and the ruins of
Castle Perilous in the Barony of Palishchuk. The war that will begin in the summer of the Year of Wild Magic
(1372 DR) will determine that outcome. If the combined hosts of the Bloodstone Kingdom and Impiltur lose the
battle, both kingdoms as well as the Great Dale and the Vast will be threatened by the Tiamatist forces that
Kargmelchina and Sammaster are steering from their abode atop Suncatcher Mountain.
If the Bloodstone Kingdom and Impiltur are defeated, Vaasa will be lost, and the Impilturian and Bloodstone
armies will have been weakened to the point where their ability to defend Damara and the Impilturian homeland
will be questionable. The Great Dale, already in a state of civil war, probably would fall easily, although it might
be difficult for the Tiamatists to control. The Vast, divided into small sovereignties, also would have a difficult
time withstanding the onslaught of vampire dragons and draconians.
If, on the other hand, the Bloodstone Kingdom and Impiltur win the war in Vaasa, there still will remain much to
be done before the future visions of the kingdom can be realized. Throughout Vaasa, the swamps must drain
and the swamp trolls must be eliminated.
The large host of giants, ogres, orcs and goblins that once served Zhengyi remains above the Vaasan Barony
of Palishchuk in the northern leg of the West Galenas, within the borders of Thar. Rangers who dare wander
those mountains estimate the monster population between 6,000 and 12,000. Today, the giants and goblinkind
devote their attention to the Grey Land to the West and ignore the Vaasan swamps.
However, if prosperity and development begin to spread into the western reaches of the Barony of Palishchuk,
the focus of the horde in the West Galenas could shift quickly back to Vaasa, which would be a threat to the
Barony of Sunderland as well as the Barony of Palishchuk.
As if that weren't enough, the Vaasan Barony of Sunderland also faces the continuing challenge of cleansing
the Black Holes, and it shares with the Barony of Palishchuk the threat of the drow city V'elddrinnsshar below.
Game masters who are not planning to run In the Land of the Lich Lords, the optional 8th part of Northern
Journey, may wish to consider how they want to deal with these open ends. It may be that you and your PCs
want to move on to a new adventure in another part of the Realms and leave the solution of these remaining
problems to the locals, a choice that is completely legitimate.
If the war against Kargmelchina and Sammaster is won and the PCs have played an important role in the
victory, King Gareth not only will want to reward the PCs well for their contribution, but he also will attempt to
bind them permanently into the Bloodstone Kingdom.
If the war ends victoriously, the king has a number of enticing possibilities open to him to keep the PCs in his
service:
• Baron Donlevy of Polten, if he survives the war, will wish to abdicate his title and devote the remainder of
his life to serving Ilmater as a Paladin of the order of the Golden cup. The aging Chancellor Dargun in
Trailsend wishes to retire and will not accept appointment as the successor baron. The king could offer
this barony as a reward to one of the PCs.
• Prince Quillan in Heliogabalus is old and tired. He wants to retire when the war ends. The king plans to
appoint Baron Celedon of Morov as the new Prince of Damara.
• Duke Tarun of Arcata and Baron Tom of Ostel also are ripe for retirement. The duchy and the barony
each could be offered to a PC.
• The king is willing to construct a large temple to honor any non-evil deity who is served by a PC priest or
cleric. He will build the temple at any location the PC chooses within the Bloodstone Kingdom.
• Court Mage Panus Anghelkhus still is seeking high level magi and sorcerers to serve as command war
wizards for the five regiments of the Bloodstone Army. PC magi and sorcerers will be welcome to fill such
positions. The rewards include a luxurious tower within the regimental compound, training by the epic
wizards of the Wand of Impiltur and complete access to the royal magical library in Impilturian Lyrabar.
• King Gareth and Duke Riordan of Carmathan want the art of the bard to spread throughout the
Bloodstone Kingdom. The king will offer to build a huge bard's college in Ravensburg, to be led by any
bard PC.
• The king also will make generous offers to any PC druid. Precisely what he will offer will depend upon
the druid's own focal point. If he or she is a druid of Silvanus, the king will offer an appointment as high
druid in charge of forestation.
PCs who go on to the Land of the Lich Lords still can be offered and enjoy the rewards listed above. While all
of these positions can be viewed as being open, none of them must be filled immediately. The king also can
offer such appointments to the PCs upon their return from the north.
For those PCs who remain in or return to the Bloodstone Kingdom, many crucial matters will be on their
agendas. The two most important themes are:
• The Iron Throne - The Throne already quietly controls much of the Bloodstone Kingdom, and its
clandestine power is growing rapidly. The day will come when the crown needs to root out Shandaril,
eliminate her and crush a large part of her organization in Damara and Vaasa as well as in Impiltur. This
situation opens the door to endless campaign opportunities.
• The Great Empire - The heirless Queen Sambryl of Impiltur is in her 90s. She will die within a few years
after the end of the Vaasan war. The Iron Throne will use all of its power at that time to attempt to
replace the heirless royal government with a government of merchants dominated by the Throne. The
paladin Lords of Imphras II will not allow that to happen, but there nonetheless will be substantial unrest
and turmoil in Impiltur. In the Year of Wild Magic (1372 DR), Regent War Captain Kyrlraun, General
Haelimbrar, King Gareth and Prince Quillan of Damara already began informal discussions of creating a
new Eastern Empire that would include both the Bloodstone Kingdom and the Kingdom of Impiltur.
Overtures also would be made to the Great Dale after Harbet Gall's destruction, and a side glance is
being cast toward the Vast. When Queen Sambryl dies, the Lords of Imphras II will begin placing
considerable pressure upon King Gareth to make a reality of the new empire. Such a move will meet
extremely strong resistance from both factions of the Harpers, the Zhentarim, the Iron Throne, some
Moonsea city-states and Thay. If the PCs have accepted the appointments suggested above, they could
be driving factors in the creation of the new empire or important elements who discourage King Gareth
from agreeing to creation of the empire. With all of the fixtures and forces that would be affected by the
proclamation of an Eastern Empire, the game master's campaign possibilities are limitless.
Appendix - The Cluttered Map

Bloodstone
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Book 1 - The Bloodstone Story

Bloodstone Book 1 - Page 2

Part 7 of Northern Journey

For several years

The Vintyri Project™

I heard the bells on Christmas day

I thought how, as the day had come,

Till ringing, singing, on it's way,

Then from each black, accursed mouth

It was as if an earthquake rent

And in despair I bowed my head

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

2.1 How Can a Non-NJ Game Master Use This Work?

2.6 What's This Segment About?

3.1 Ancient History

1347 DR - Year of the Bright Blade

3.4 Modern History

1363 DR - Year of the Wyvern (Year of the Tide Turned)

4. People, Organizations and Locations

4.1 A Cast of Characters and Organizations

4.3 Key Organizations in the Bloodstone Kingdom

4.4 Geographical Locations in and near the Bloodstone Kingdom

5. Campaigning in the Bloodstone Kingdom

5.1 The Running Clock of the Year of Wild Magic

5.2 Resisting the Sigylls in the Bloodstone Lands

5.3 The (Empty?) Pot of Gold at Adventure's End

The Cluttered Map

Game masters also need one of the two following products:

… the following product

… the following product

• Northern Journey Campaign Guide (Version 8)

• FR9 The Bloodstone Lands

• H2 The Mines of Bloodstone

• H3 The Bloodstone Wars

• H4 The Throne of Bloodstone

2. FAQ for Game Masters

2.1 How Can a Non-NJ-Game Master Use This Work?

2.2 Where Do I Start? Why So Much History?

• Powers & Pantheons by Eric L. Boyd, TSR 1997.

• Demihuman Deities by Eric L. Boyd, TSR 1998.

2.4 Notes for AD&D 2E Game Masters

Monster Manual and Epic Level Handbook

2.5 The Northern Journey Maps

2.6 What's This Segment About?

This accessory gives the game master several closing options:

2.7 Yes, Virginia, Zhengyi Really Was a Red Wizard

3. The Bloodstone Story

3.1 Ancient History

When does the tale of Damara and Vaasa begin?

• Elves had established many settlements in Faerûn.

• The Elven Crown Wars had begun.

Instead, he said he believes that wizards and sorcerers of Raurin either:

3.2 After the Melt

1068 DR - Feldrin I 1231 DR - Sendar II

3.3 Zhengyi's Years … with Inconsistencies

1347 DR - Year of the Bright Blade

By the pricking of my thumbs,

1348 DR - Year of the Spur

• The North (free download):

• Volo's Guide to the North (free download):

• FR5 The Savage Frontier (free download):

• Hellgate Keep (ESD Download)

1349 DR - Year of the Bridle