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ericlboyd
Forgotten Realms Designer

USA
2065 Posts

Posted - 07 Apr 2019 :  01:01:29  Show Profile  Visit ericlboyd's Homepage Send ericlboyd a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Cosmar

I am loving these sneak peaks so far! I'm curious, will you include anything new about Siluvenade and/or the Seven Citadels War?



Tons. It's woven into the history of the High Forest. The legacies of the Seven Citadels War are still reverberating in the modern day.

--
http://www.ericlboyd.com/dnd/
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore

Australia
6641 Posts

Posted - 07 Apr 2019 :  05:16:47  Show Profile Send George Krashos a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Siluvanede? Where’s that?

— George Krashos

"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus
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TomCosta
Forgotten Realms Designer

USA
948 Posts

Posted - 07 Apr 2019 :  16:04:09  Show Profile Send TomCosta a Private Message  Reply with Quote
George, they are the makers of fine forks, knives, and spoons. Its were we get the botched human term silverware from. The High Forest would be downright barbaric without their communal efforts.
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ericlboyd
Forgotten Realms Designer

USA
2065 Posts

Posted - 07 Apr 2019 :  16:31:57  Show Profile  Visit ericlboyd's Homepage Send ericlboyd a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by TomCosta

George, they are the makers of fine forks, knives, and spoons. Its were we get the botched human term silverware from. The High Forest would be downright barbaric without their communal efforts.



Apparently the whole Hellgate Keep invasion was precipitated by a dispute over different patterns of silver.

Trust me, it's obvious if you look at the Realmslore.

--Eric

--
http://www.ericlboyd.com/dnd/
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Cosmar
Seeker

88 Posts

Posted - 07 Apr 2019 :  20:10:06  Show Profile Send Cosmar a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos

Siluvanede? Where’s that?

— George Krashos



It was an old Sun Elf realm in the High Forest that was involved in the Seven Citadels War with Sharrven and Earlann. They were corrupted by feyri and annexed by Earlann.

There isn't a lot of lore about it other than a couple of locations associated with it (like Lothen of the Silver Spires).

I'm interested to know more about Lothen, and what/where exactly the Seven Citadels were.

I'm in an FR game (in late 1372 DR right now) playing a sun elf wizard descended from nobility from Siluvenade and the theme if the game has become trying to thwart various fey'ri plots (my guy was almost captured in one of the breeding experiments). My DM has done an admirable job making up locations and minor plots (highlights have been Bellan'daaran, the Spire of Black Ice, and the Circle of the Black Hand, a cabal of evil Graz'zt-worhipping Siluvenaden demon-binders) so I'm pretty invested in learning more. :D

Edited by - Cosmar on 07 Apr 2019 20:11:12
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader

United Kingdom
6350 Posts

Posted - 07 Apr 2019 :  21:40:16  Show Profile Send Gary Dallison a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I think you may have fallen afoul of George's humour since he is very much aware of the place and it's location and has far more information about it than the rest of us. I suspect he was making reference to either a missing accent marking on a letter or just pretending not to know because he quite probably had a hand in naming and placing it.

Don't take it personally though, we all like to keep things light hearted round here (with a few exceptional topics).

I'm very much intrigued by the silver bit though, a reference to different elvish types perhaps.

I'm still wanting to find out who caused the end of eaerlann and siluvanede and sharrven because it appears someone had a vendetta against the elves that occupied former vyshaan territory.

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Edited by - Gary Dallison on 07 Apr 2019 21:42:02
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Cosmar
Seeker

88 Posts

Posted - 08 Apr 2019 :  17:34:37  Show Profile Send Cosmar a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I think the current explanation of House Dlardrageth corrupting Siluvanede and then Arcorar High Mages destroying the house triggering the war suffices...unless there's more to it (isn't there always?)
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ericlboyd
Forgotten Realms Designer

USA
2065 Posts

Posted - 08 Apr 2019 :  18:27:06  Show Profile  Visit ericlboyd's Homepage Send ericlboyd a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Cosmar

I think the current explanation of House Dlardrageth corrupting Siluvanede and then Arcorar High Mages destroying the house triggering the war suffices...unless there's more to it (isn't there always?)



That's the basis of the issue. Untangling the references made the resulting story more complicated. There's also the question of what became of all the players and do they tie back into the storyline later.

--
http://www.ericlboyd.com/dnd/
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Cosmar
Seeker

88 Posts

Posted - 08 Apr 2019 :  18:32:20  Show Profile Send Cosmar a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd

quote:
Originally posted by Cosmar

I think the current explanation of House Dlardrageth corrupting Siluvanede and then Arcorar High Mages destroying the house triggering the war suffices...unless there's more to it (isn't there always?)



That's the basis of the issue. Untangling the references made the resulting story more complicated. There's also the question of what became of all the players and do they tie back into the storyline later.



*Raises hand*

BIGGEST QUESTION EVER: Myth Adofhaer. Where is it?! What are the conditions for it returning!?
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ericlboyd
Forgotten Realms Designer

USA
2065 Posts

Posted - 08 Apr 2019 :  23:39:54  Show Profile  Visit ericlboyd's Homepage Send ericlboyd a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Cosmar

quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd

quote:
Originally posted by Cosmar

I think the current explanation of House Dlardrageth corrupting Siluvanede and then Arcorar High Mages destroying the house triggering the war suffices...unless there's more to it (isn't there always?)



That's the basis of the issue. Untangling the references made the resulting story more complicated. There's also the question of what became of all the players and do they tie back into the storyline later.



*Raises hand*

BIGGEST QUESTION EVER: Myth Adofhaer. Where is it?! What are the conditions for it returning!?



This doesn't add much to what you already know, but it fits in the context of a much larger discussion of the history of Siluvanede and its ruling structure.

===

Myth Adofhaer
The city of Adofhaeranede, renamed Myth Adofhaer after the construction of its mythal in -5,300 DR, was the capitol of Siluvanede and the heart of the gold elf kingdom. Little is known of this once-magnificent city, as even its former location is cloaked in the passage of time. Accounts from the Seven Citadels War simply speak of a sprawling, tree-filled city, dominated by fractious gold elven noble houses who clawed for every opportunity to advance their status at the expense of their rivals.
At the end of the Seven Citadels War (-4,500 DR), the final decree of the fragmented Aronala of Siluvanede authorized the remaining untainted Siluvanedenn high mages to place the city of Myth Adofhaer in magical stasis, effectively enabling its residents to flee to the far future to escape association with the fey’ri houses. It is believed that in so doing, they wholly removed Myth Adofhaer from Faerûn, for no trace of the city’s location has ever been found.

===

--
http://www.ericlboyd.com/dnd/
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Cards77
Senior Scribe

USA
745 Posts

Posted - 09 Apr 2019 :  00:52:11  Show Profile Send Cards77 a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd

quote:
Originally posted by Cosmar

I am loving these sneak peaks so far! I'm curious, will you include anything new about Siluvenade and/or the Seven Citadels War?


Tons.



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Barastir
Master of Realmslore

Brazil
1600 Posts

Posted - 09 Apr 2019 :  17:31:02  Show Profile Send Barastir a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by jamesewelch
(...) I know 3.5e had some strange ones like weresharks and werecrocodiles.


In fact, they existed prior to 3.5. The wereshark is in the 2e Waterdeep boxed set, and may be earlier. And there are werecrocs in non-Realms sources in 2e, but I'm not sure if they are usable there.

EDIT: My mistake, there are werecrocodiles in the 2e Powers and Pantheons Realms sourcebook.

"Goodness is not a natural state, but must be
fought for to be attained and maintained.
Lead by example.
Let your deeds speak your intentions.
Goodness radiated from the heart."

The Paladin's Virtues, excerpt from the "Quentin's Monograph"
(by Ed Greenwood)

Edited by - Barastir on 09 Apr 2019 20:18:33
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ericlboyd
Forgotten Realms Designer

USA
2065 Posts

Posted - 09 Apr 2019 :  18:24:29  Show Profile  Visit ericlboyd's Homepage Send ericlboyd a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Barastir

quote:
Originally posted by jamesewelch
(...) I know 3.5e had some strange ones like weresharks and werecrocodiles.


In fact, they existed prior to 3.5. The wereshark is in the 2e Waterdeep boxed set, and may be earlier. And there are werecrocs in non-Realms sources in 2e, but I'm not sure if they are usable there.



Reminds me of a question posed by Volo.

Q: As Higharvestide approaches, what's this season's most unexpected fashionable haberdashery?

A: Werecrocs.

<ba dump dump>

I'll be here all ride. Try the thaerkth.

--
http://www.ericlboyd.com/dnd/

Edited by - ericlboyd on 09 Apr 2019 18:25:40
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Cosmar
Seeker

88 Posts

Posted - 10 Apr 2019 :  04:23:20  Show Profile Send Cosmar a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd

This doesn't add much to what you already know, but it fits in the context of a much larger discussion of the history of Siluvanede and its ruling structure.

===

Myth Adofhaer
The city of Adofhaeranede, renamed Myth Adofhaer after the construction of its mythal in -5,300 DR, was the capitol of Siluvanede and the heart of the gold elf kingdom. Little is known of this once-magnificent city, as even its former location is cloaked in the passage of time. Accounts from the Seven Citadels War simply speak of a sprawling, tree-filled city, dominated by fractious gold elven noble houses who clawed for every opportunity to advance their status at the expense of their rivals.
At the end of the Seven Citadels War (-4,500 DR), the final decree of the fragmented Aronala of Siluvanede authorized the remaining untainted Siluvanedenn high mages to place the city of Myth Adofhaer in magical stasis, effectively enabling its residents to flee to the far future to escape association with the fey’ri houses. It is believed that in so doing, they wholly removed Myth Adofhaer from Faerûn, for no trace of the city’s location has ever been found.

===



Awesome, thanks! :) So, it was the capital, and not everyone inside agreed on everything. That's something. For some reason I always assumed Lothen was the capital, but I guess there was never anything stating so.

My guess at the Seven Citadels are:
Myth Adofhaer
Lothen
Telardon
Ascalhorn
Myth Glaurach
Tall Trees (can't remember the "...dar" name)
... and I dunno. The Nameless Dungeon maybe?

Edited by - Cosmar on 10 Apr 2019 04:28:06
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Owesstaer
Acolyte

Luxembourg
30 Posts

Posted - 12 Apr 2019 :  13:12:51  Show Profile Send Owesstaer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd

quote:
Originally posted by Gary Dallison

Interesting dates given for the blue bear tribe. I shall have to ponder on these and what it means for my version of Netheril.

Where were the blue bear before they arrived in the high forest I wonder, why did they move into the high forest.



The Grand History of the Realms, page 63:

123 DR Year of the Icy Axe
Uthgar dies from wounds received in battle with Gurt, Lord of the Pale Giants, at the present-day site of Morgur’s Mound. His nomad human follow- ers call themselves the Uthgardt [100, 153] in his honor and form tribes based on the beast spirits he was said to have tamed in his lifetime.

So, the Grandfather Tree is an odd duck among the beast spirits. I'm guessing that the vision of the Tree was revealed to the Blue Bear tribe in 123 DR, but they had no idea where the tree was. They spend the next 64 years wandering the North looking for it. It's not until 187 DR that they finally find it.



I thought that Tree Ghost & Blue Bear were 2 distinct tribes that existed parallelly: Tree Ghost looking for Grandfather Tree, and Blue Bear subject to Hellgate Keep.
So do I get this correctly now, that actually, the survivors from Blue Bear, after its downfall, became the Tree Ghost tribe after they found GF Tree!? (I hope so, because this sounds awesomely cool.)
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader

United Kingdom
6350 Posts

Posted - 12 Apr 2019 :  13:43:16  Show Profile Send Gary Dallison a Private Message  Reply with Quote
It had always been the case that the tree ghost tribe split from the blue bear tribe when the blue bear became involved with tanta hagara and the demons of hellgate keep.

I think at one point both tribes were looking for the grandfather tree (which had been lost for some time), but the blue bear tribe soon got slaughtered along with the other demons of hellgate keep, leaving only the tree ghost tribe remaining to look for and find it.

The uthgardt tribes stories are quite interesting and full of hidden plots and events, but you have to read every sourcebook to find all the bits which is why we need such loremasters as Eric and George to find all the pieces for us and weave them into a complete tapestry (assuredly with extra threads to weave new tapestries)

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ericlboyd
Forgotten Realms Designer

USA
2065 Posts

Posted - 12 Apr 2019 :  15:37:39  Show Profile  Visit ericlboyd's Homepage Send ericlboyd a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Lament of the Blue Bear

The Twelve Tribes of the Uthgardt trace their heritage back to Netherese refugees who fled Runlatha after the Fall of Netheril and the Ruathen raiders who smashed Illusk and then followed Uthgar Gardolfsson into the North. The original twelve tribes included the Black Lion, Black Raven, Blue Bear, Elk, Golden Eagle, Gray Wolf, Great Worm, Griffon, Red Pony, Red Tiger (Snow Cat), Sky Pony, and Thunderbeast tribes. The Golden Eagle and Red Pony tribes vanished into the Underdark centuries ago, but the Blue Bear tribe is the first to go extinct.
Some sages trace the fall of the Blue Bear tribe to the Mark of Zukothoth, the nalfeshnee who was said to have scored a mortal wound against the Bey of Runlatha while the warlord collapsed a cavern atop both their heads with the Axe of Berun. A few scholars blame the introduction of the Hag Curse of Aratanta into the tribe’s bloodline, when the Blue Bears absorbed the survivors of the Royal House of Stoneblade following the fall of Athalantar. Most sages note the proximity of the Grandfather Tree to Hellgate Keep and blame Malar the Beastlord for stalking the Blue Bear totem for centuries, until he slew him during the Time of Troubles.
The truth behind the fall of the Blue Bear tribe can be traced to the fall of Ascalhorn in the Year of the Curse (882 DR). As the taint of the Abyss spread unchecked throughout the once fair forests of the Upvale, it created horrific, twisted abominations of the native flora and fauna in its wake, until the Harpers and their allies established powerful wards permeating the lands about the citadel in the Year of the Fell Firebreak (886 DR),
One such perversion of the natural order was created in the Year of the Giant’s Oath (883 DR) when an eddy of magical chaos enmeshed a colony of red ants, causing them to quickly grow to gargantuan proportions. Barred from the now-miniscule tunnels of their formicary, the giant ants marched into the forest’s depths in search of new home, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.
A trace of the tainted Abyssal seed that sparked the colony’s transformation must have remained within the ants, for their march (called the Red Ribbon of Fire) led them inexorably toward the Grandfather Tree and the portals to the Abyss that lay beneath in the Hall of Mists. Upon reaching the arakhor, the giant ants swarmed over the Grandfather Tree before boring into its roots through an ancient abscess in the trunk. The tunneling Abyss-tainted giant ants breached the Hall of Mists, which had lain undisturbed for millennia, and established a sprawling formicary amidst the roots of the arakhor.
In the years that followed, the ants began using one of the portals in the Hall of Mists, which led to the 1st plane of the Abyss, to forage for food for the colony. Such visits by the ants to the Abyss did not go unnoticed, for, in the Year of the Burning Tree (890 DR), they attracted the attention of Arcanrathnar, a glabrezu sorcerer of great power, who had long sought a portal to return to the Realms. Millennia before, in -4,912 DR, Arcanrathnar, then a balor, had been enslaved as a guardian of the second Dlardrageth Armory by his daughter, Lady Sarya of House Dlardrageth, only to be slain by the gold elves of House Ilviiri in -4,452 DR. After being reborn as a lower caste demon, Arcanrathnar had spent centuries clawing his way back up the hierarchy of the Abyss, all the while seeking a way back to the Realms to unleash his vengeance on the daemonfey of House Dlardrageth and gold elves of Siluvanede who had cost him his status in the Aybss.
After following the ants back through the portal, Arcanrathnar emerged from the Hall of Mists to find himself amidst the roots of the Grandfather Tree. The glabrezu sorcerer observed the barbarians of the Blue Bear tribe, who had gathered for their upcoming Runemeet and decided they would serve him well in his coming battles with the scions of House Dlardrageth and House Ilviiri. The demon appeared before the clan’s chief in the guise of the clan’s totem beast, a massive blue bear. The disguised Arcanrathnar then offered to grant the chief’s wish for great power to fight the demons of Hellgate Keep in exchange for his pledge of service when called upon by the ”blue bear.”
During the Runemeet celebrations that followed, the Grandfather Tree, perhaps sensing the corruption that had taken root amidst the Blue Bear tribe, suddenly burst into flame, driving back the assembled Uthgardt barbarians, although the tree itself and the surrounding forest seemed unaffected by the great conflagration. Acting quickly, Arcanrathnar cast an illusion to ensure that one low-hanging branch of the tree appeared to be untouched by the flames. The Blue Bear tribe’s shaman made a small cutting of the apparently untouched branch. Arcanrathnar then cast another spell to make it appear that a shadowy figure of a man in green (an illusion with the appearance of a tree ghost) seemed to emerge from the severed branch and make his way into the forest, leaving a trail of bear prints in his wake.
Following the trail left by the shadowy figure, the Blue Bear tribe made its way northward until the trail of claw prints came to an abrupt end at the center of an ancient ring of standing stones. There the tribe’s shaman planted the precious cutting, establishing the Uthgardt ancestor mound now known as Stone Stand. At the same time, memory of the location of the Grandfather Tree abruptly faded from the minds of both the Blue Bears and Arcanrathnar, thanks to the power of the arakhor.
In the years that followed, thanks to the power of the glabrezu’s wish, the Blue Bear tribe scored many great victories against the remaining demons that had escaped the Harper-erected wards that enmeshed Hellgate Keep and now wandered the northern reaches of the High Forest. Meanwhile, Arcanrathnar stalked the High Forest in search of the scions of Siluvanede who had cost him his status as a balor and the armory that he had been long forced to guard.
After finally locating the second Dlardrageth Armory in the Year of the Tolling Bell (899 DR), the glabrezu sorcerer returned to Stone Stand during the Blue Bear tribe’s annual Runemeet celebration. Once again in the form of a blue bear, he demanded payment from the tribe’s chief for the wish he had granted nine years earlier. Over the Blue Bear shaman’s protestations, the chief of the Blue Bears led the warriors of the tribe into the High Forest to the second Dlardrageth Armory, following the apparent avatar of their tribal totem that had emerged in their midst.
After sundering the Eaerlanni wards, Arcanrathnar led the Blue Bear warriors into the depths, wherein they encountered a legion of fey’ri warriors, where they had been imprisoned by Eaerlanni high mages in the Year of the Curse (882 DR). In the ensuing battle, the Blue Bear warriors once again proved victorious, destroying the fey’ri within the armory, but at the cost of many Uthgardt lives, including that of their chief.
As the surviving Uthgardt warriors emerged from the armory victorious, they found themselves confronted by the tribe’s shaman who, suspecting the tribe’s chief had been led astray, had summoned a great spirit totem of the Blue Bear and followed the tribe’s warriors into the High Forest. Arcanrathnar and the Blue Bear fought a fierce battle that culminated in the second death of the demon and the mortal wounding of the great spirit totem. Bereft of their shaman, chief, and fiercest brothers, the surviving Blue Bear warriors returned to Stone Stand and tried to recover from their losses.
In the Year of the Sudden Journey (912 DR), the demons of Hellgate Keep began appearing on the slopes of the Nether Mountains, having escaped the Harpers’ wards by means of deep tunnels dug through the earth. In the tradition of their fathers, a new generation of Blue Bear warriors once again began to battle the demons that stalked the region, but without the fearsome prowess granted to them by the glabrezu’s now-terminated wish. In the centuries that followed, the Blue Bear tribe’s warriors continued their never-ending war against demonkind, but without the success of their forebears. Over time, more and more members of the tribe fell victim to the corrupting influence of the very demons they fought, gradually turning many members of the tribe into servitors of their former foes.
Meanwhile, the Blue Bear totem grew ever weaker, as the wound inflicted by Arcanrathnar to the great spirit totem somehow refused to heal. Like all wounded creatures, the Blue Bear eventually drew the attention of a fearsome predator, Malar the Beastlord. For decades, Malar stalked his wounded prey, while the shamans of the Blue Bear tribe increasingly turned to worship of the Beastlord, until Malar finally killed the Blue Bear during the Time of Troubles in the Year of Shadows (1358 DR) and formally assumed the mantle of the Blue Bear.
In addition, as the Blue Bear totem’s protection of the Blue Bear tribe diminished, the long-quiescent Hag Curse of Aratanta began to afflict the birth of nearly half the daughters born to the tribe. While most such hag-children were immediately slain, at least one hag-child survived her birth in the Year of the Trembling Tree (1223 DR), when her father, Chief Berdarn Hagara, left Tanta Hagara at the edge of the High Forest, unwilling to kill his only offspring. By chance, the annis foundling was captured by a demon-led ghoul pack and brought back to Hellgate Keep, where she was raised as a ward of the marilith Mulvassyss the Sceptered, alongside Kaanyr Vhok the Sceptered One, the marilith’s cambion son. In a never-ending bid to gain advantage over her rivals, Mulvassyss the Sceptered had bartered for information with Arcanrathnar, once again reborn in the Abyss, and, in the process, learned of the portal to the Abyss that lay within the depths of the High Forest, although the exact location (other than beneath a massive tree) was a mystery to the twice-killed demon. Mulvassyss recognized that Tanta Hagara could prove useful in locating the portal, and so let the annis live.
In the Year of the Fist (1311 DR), Mulvassyss the Sceptered ordered Tanta Hagara to return to the tribe of her birth and seize the position of shaman of the Blue Bear tribe. Believing the stunningly beautiful, barbaric hunter goddess with sky-blue skin and the ability to shapechange into a blue-furred bear to be an avatar of their demonic bear spirit, the tribe quickly adopted her as their leader in all but name, as Chief Hlutwig Long-throw fell under her control. The gigantic hag then directed the Blue Bears to start looking for the long-lost Grandfather Tree (and thus the portal that lay beneath). Ironically, by using the members of the Blue Bear tribe as her proxies in the search, Tanta rekindled a desire to reclaim the ancient ways among a sizable minority of her followers.
Two years later, in the Year of the Shattered Oak (1313 DR), as the cruelty of Tanta Hagara became increasingly apparent, the Blue Bear tribe split in twain during a clash so bloody that both factions were forced to withdraw to avoid annihilation. After the battle, the surviving rebels formed a new tribe—the Tree Ghosts—and abandoned the corrupt Blue Bear totem to worship the nigh-mythical woodland spirit they believed inhabited the Grandfather Tree. Both the Blue Bear tribe and the Tree Ghost tribe continued to roam the North seeking the long-lost ancestor mound, but to no avail.
After more than six decades of fruitless searching, Tanta Hagara was no closer to fulfilling the command of Mulvassyss the Sceptered, when the power structure of Hellgate Keep changed overnight in the Year of the Sword (1365 DR). Imprisoned elven spies slew Grintharke the balor and all but seven of the true demons of Hellgate Keep with the shattering swords of Coronal Ynloeth. Emerging from the chaos were three mariliths, who agreed to a truce and formed a triumvirate to rule over the Keep.
Within the course of a year, the Marilith Triumvirate fell to infighting, with all of them plotting against each other. Within a short time, Ssaarn of the Five Hands and Mulvassyss the Sceptered conspired to bring about the assassination of their third, Amassyra the Tricoil. Once Amassyra was eliminated, the two surviving mariliths split the Keep’s rule. In an obviously uneven split of the Keep’s resources, Ssaarn took command of the demons and the undead, and Mulvassyss was left with the cambions, captive orcs, humans, and others. Mulvassyss was in no position to challenge her more powerful rival, who had the backing of the bar-lgura, even with the support of her crafty son Kaanyr Vhok, the cambion commander who had successfully slain the Tricoil. While the Keep stayed internally peaceful for the rest of the Year of the Staff (1366 DR), Mulvassyss and Kaanyr plotted their revenge on Ssaarn, and Kaanyr further plotted how to remove his mother from power once she led the Keep.
Word of the changes in leadership in Hellgate Keep trickled out slowly to other ears. After a mad wizard of the Fallen Lands unleashed his monstrous army on Hellgate Keep in the Year of the Shield (1367 DR), Ssaarn sent out her demons and undead creatures to engage the enemy, since the demons’ deaths inside the wards would be their final ones rather than merely a return to the Abyss. During the fray, Kaanyr Vhok and a small troop of human slaves escaped the Keep and entered the High Forest to meet with his ward-sister (Tanta Hagara). Despite the damage to the main gates of Hellgate Keep and the loss of much of her army, the Keep remained in Ssaarn’s hands, and the mad wizard’s armies were routed. Taking advantage of her rival’s forces weakened position, Mulvassyss the Sceptered quickly slew Ssaarn and conquered the Keep, cementing its rule under one leader again after four years of strife. As her son Kaanyr Vhok brought the Blue Bear tribe and Tanta Hagara (and the tribal chieftain Tanta Hagara controlled as a puppet) under his direct control, Mulvassyss expected to have more breeding stock to continue creating more cambions and tieflings so as to strengthen Hellgate Keep once more.
In the Year of the Banner (1368 DR), Kaanyr Vhok led the annis and her barbarians into the Keep, as the next step in Mulvassyss’s plans for conquest. However, the marilith had not counted on her son’s ambitions and was quite shocked when, while she was welcoming her son and formally greeting her long-time long-absent ward, Kaanyr Vhok treacherously slew her with the very weapons that once slew Amassyra the Tricoil. The puppet chieftain of the Blue Bear tribe, Hlutwig Long-throw, whose mind had long since snapped and whose body was by this time a withered husk, died in the confusion in the reception chamber, trampled beneath the feet and claws of the assembled forces.
Upon seizing control of Hellgate Keep, Kaanyr Vhok and his lieutenants decided to implement a number of Mulvassyss’s plans, including introducing the Blue Bear barbarians into the breeding stock of Hellgate Keep and creating more tiefling troops. In a solely political move, Kaanyr Vhok and Tanta Hagara were wed to cement the alliance and keep the Blue Bear tribe, which saw Hagara as its remaining bastion of leadership, in line with Hellgate Keep.
While internally Kaanyr Vhok controlled the Keep’s forces, he allowed Tanta Hagara to be perceived as the leader of the Keep. The Blue Bear tribe members outnumbered the cambions, tieflings, and the few lesser demons left by three to one, though their power was insignificant save in those numbers. Thus, Tanta Hagara stood as the “leader” of Hellgate Keep while her husband (and ward-brother) plotted deeper plots.
While the Blue Bear tribe was swept up into the machinations of Hellgate Keep’s rulers, the Tree Ghost tribe finally rediscovered the site of their original ancestor mound on Shieldmeet in the Year of the Banner (1368 DR), thanks to the unwitting actions of the legendary adventurer, Mintiper Moonsilver. Unbeknownst to the Tree Ghost Tribe, their discovery occurred after Mintiper accidentally destroyed a portal to the Negative Material Plane in the Hall of Mists beneath the Grandfather Tree in the Year of Moonfall (1344 DR) by trying to throw three of the Nether Scrolls through it. The elimination of that portal, mitigated the threat posed by the giant Abyss-tainted ants to the very life of the arakhor. Coupled with the Tree Ghosts rejection of the corrupting taint of the Abyss, the Grandfather Tree finally let the Tree Ghosts “find” their way home.
Despite the presence of her spies among the Tree Ghost tribe, it was several weeks before Tanta Hagara learned of her rivals’ success. By the time word of the Grandfather Tree’s rediscovery reached Hellgate Keep, the annis was preoccupied with fortifying her own position as the newly installed leader of the ghoul-hold of Hellgate Keep. Nevertheless, Tanta Hagara continued her efforts to locate the ancient temple that lay beneath the forest giant as her agents chased down rumors of portals and items of great power spread by the Harpers.
Tanta Hagara’s efforts to locate the Grandfather Tree and the Hall of Mists came to an abrupt end in the Year of the Gauntlet (1369 DR), when she was slain and the Blue Bear tribe all but destroyed by the allied forces of the Mistmaster, the Lord’s Alliance (including troops from Everlund and Triboar,), and the creatures of the High Forest in the War of the Mists. What might have come to pass had the annis succeeded in her quest to enter the Hall of Mists remains a mystery thankfully left unanswered.
In the aftermath of the War of the Mists, all that remains of the centuries-old Blue Bear tribe is the reborn Tree Ghost tribe and a handful of tanarukk younglings, conceived during the brief window when Tanta Hagara ruled Hellgate Keep.

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Gary Dallison
Great Reader

United Kingdom
6350 Posts

Posted - 12 Apr 2019 :  16:16:56  Show Profile Send Gary Dallison a Private Message  Reply with Quote
That is a mightily detailed piece of realmslore and far more intricate than I could have imagined. The crown of eaerlann is looking more exciting with every glimpse.

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Copper Elven Vampire
Master of Realmslore

1078 Posts

Posted - 13 Apr 2019 :  04:12:02  Show Profile Send Copper Elven Vampire a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd

quote:
Originally posted by Copper Elven Vampire

quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd

Greetings,

I'm working on Crown of Eaerlann, a new adventure / sourcebook akin to Under Illefarn Anew, but set in the High Forest. I've gotten a lot done, but I have a long ways to go.

I'll try to put a few tidbits in this thread.

--Eric



Yes, yes, yes. Can you include some mischief involving Erevan Ilesere in the module perhaps? My entire epic level campaign (going on for over 10 years now) is based in Everlund and The High Forest and the adventuring group "The Rogues of The Laughing Midnight" (as in midnight gambol).



There are details of an elven noble house with strong ties to the faith (not the church) of Erevan Ilesere in the adventure. They are one of many power centers with an impact on the module, but not core to the plot.

--Eric



Than you for that information. I have been playing a Mischiefmaker of Erevan Ilesere from house Ahmaquissar for over 10 years now and it was cool to see an Ahmaquissar in the "Gem of Clarata" snipit. Ahmaquissar is hands down my favorite elven house, due to it being mostly debauched rogues of high skill and talent who tend to lean towards Erevan, over the other deities of the elven pantheon.
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 13 Apr 2019 :  04:20:54  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Wow, that is some good stuff!

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Deepening Moon
Acolyte

17 Posts

Posted - 02 May 2019 :  14:28:24  Show Profile Send Deepening Moon a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Hello Cosmar,
can you provide more informations/details about the Circle of the Black Hand and maybe also about Bellan'daaran?
Sounds very interesting, and I could use it very well in an adventure, which I'm running just now (concerning Siluvanede, the fey'ri and also Graz'zt). So it would fit well, and with your permission (or the permission of your DM) I would maybe use some of your background-informations...
Thanks a lot!!
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ericlboyd
Forgotten Realms Designer

USA
2065 Posts

Posted - 02 May 2019 :  18:39:23  Show Profile  Visit ericlboyd's Homepage Send ericlboyd a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Owesstaer

I thought that Tree Ghost & Blue Bear were 2 distinct tribes that existed parallelly: Tree Ghost looking for Grandfather Tree, and Blue Bear subject to Hellgate Keep.
So do I get this correctly now, that actually, the survivors from Blue Bear, after its downfall, became the Tree Ghost tribe after they found GF Tree!? (I hope so, because this sounds awesomely cool.)



Correct. Tree Ghosts are the breakaway Blue Bears.

--Eric

--
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ericlboyd
Forgotten Realms Designer

USA
2065 Posts

Posted - 02 May 2019 :  18:43:06  Show Profile  Visit ericlboyd's Homepage Send ericlboyd a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Cosmar

quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd

This doesn't add much to what you already know, but it fits in the context of a much larger discussion of the history of Siluvanede and its ruling structure.

===

Myth Adofhaer
The city of Adofhaeranede, renamed Myth Adofhaer after the construction of its mythal in -5,300 DR, was the capitol of Siluvanede and the heart of the gold elf kingdom. Little is known of this once-magnificent city, as even its former location is cloaked in the passage of time. Accounts from the Seven Citadels War simply speak of a sprawling, tree-filled city, dominated by fractious gold elven noble houses who clawed for every opportunity to advance their status at the expense of their rivals.
At the end of the Seven Citadels War (-4,500 DR), the final decree of the fragmented Aronala of Siluvanede authorized the remaining untainted Siluvanedenn high mages to place the city of Myth Adofhaer in magical stasis, effectively enabling its residents to flee to the far future to escape association with the fey’ri houses. It is believed that in so doing, they wholly removed Myth Adofhaer from Faerûn, for no trace of the city’s location has ever been found.

===



Awesome, thanks! :) So, it was the capital, and not everyone inside agreed on everything. That's something. For some reason I always assumed Lothen was the capital, but I guess there was never anything stating so.

My guess at the Seven Citadels are:
Myth Adofhaer
Lothen
Telardon
Ascalhorn
Myth Glaurach
Tall Trees (can't remember the "...dar" name)
... and I dunno. The Nameless Dungeon maybe?



I think of the Seven Citadels as 5 +2.

There are 5 Dlardrageth Armories (armories created by House Dlardrageth and filled with Vyshaantaar weaponry to entice the gold elves of Siluvanedenn towards the Dlardrageth "way-of-life") and two Dlardrageth fortresses: one beneath the Horn(later Ascal's Horn or Ascalhorn or Hellgate Keep) and one in what later became Myth Drannor (Dlardrageth Keep).

Three of the armories were plundered. The fourth armory (Nameless Dungeon) was breached / restocked / breached again. The fifth armory (Citadel of the Mists) has never been breached.

--Eric

--
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ericlboyd
Forgotten Realms Designer

USA
2065 Posts

Posted - 02 May 2019 :  18:45:44  Show Profile  Visit ericlboyd's Homepage Send ericlboyd a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Deepening Moon

Hello Cosmar,
can you provide more informations/details about the Circle of the Black Hand and maybe also about Bellan'daaran?
Sounds very interesting, and I could use it very well in an adventure, which I'm running just now (concerning Siluvanede, the fey'ri and also Graz'zt). So it would fit well, and with your permission (or the permission of your DM) I would maybe use some of your background-informations...
Thanks a lot!!



http://archive.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/mc/mc20010829d

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The Masked Mage
Great Reader

USA
2420 Posts

Posted - 02 May 2019 :  22:05:25  Show Profile Send The Masked Mage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I would say I'd love to see this come together as a complete supplement. I'm old so I understand 1st and 2nd Ed stats best but that's just me - 3.5 or 5th wouldn't matter. The good part about the things you've done in the past wasn't centered on the stats, but on the great detail you put into the characters and places. Would love to see the Elves of the High Forest fully flushed out like that.
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Deepening Moon
Acolyte

17 Posts

Posted - 02 May 2019 :  22:09:50  Show Profile Send Deepening Moon a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Hello Eric,
thank you for this link to Mintiper's Chapbook.
And also thank you very much for your great previews from your "Crown of Eaerlann"-adventure/sourcebook. I really like them and I'm looking forward to read more about this.
However, the Circle of the Black Hand, which is mentioned by Cosmar, must be a different group (not the Bane-worhipping Brotherhood of the Black Hand described in Mintiper's Chapbook), because in one of his messages above Cosmar describes the Circle of the Black Hand as a cabal of evil Graz'zt-worhipping Siluvaneden demon-binders... I hope, Cosmar can tell us more about the Circle of the Black Hand...

quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd

quote:
Originally posted by Deepening Moon

Hello Cosmar,
can you provide more informations/details about the Circle of the Black Hand and maybe also about Bellan'daaran?
Sounds very interesting, and I could use it very well in an adventure, which I'm running just now (concerning Siluvanede, the fey'ri and also Graz'zt). So it would fit well, and with your permission (or the permission of your DM) I would maybe use some of your background-informations...
Thanks a lot!!



http://archive.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/mc/mc20010829d

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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore

Australia
6641 Posts

Posted - 03 May 2019 :  00:56:35  Show Profile Send George Krashos a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Deepening Moon
However, the Circle of the Black Hand, which is mentioned by Cosmar, must be a different group (not the Bane-worhipping Brotherhood of the Black Hand described in Mintiper's Chapbook), because in one of his messages above Cosmar describes the Circle of the Black Hand as a cabal of evil Graz'zt-worhipping Siluvaneden demon-binders... I hope, Cosmar can tell us more about the Circle of the Black Hand...



It appears to be from Cosmar's own game, so yes would be interesting to see what his DM has done here. But it won't feature in Crown of Eaerlann.

-- George Krashos

"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus
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Cosmar
Seeker

88 Posts

Posted - 05 May 2019 :  21:40:23  Show Profile Send Cosmar a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Thanks Eric, for that clarification on what the Seven Citadels are. I love that the Citadel of the Mists hasn't been breached yet: what a great adventure that would be!

Yes, my DM's Circle of the Black Hand is his own creation I think. It was located in the Nether Mountains in a place called the Valley of the Bear's Teeth, not far from the temple of Loviatar. The real entrance was a disguised phase door (the apparent main entrance was a trap- the door was fake and surrounded by an energy Transformation Field spell that converted any magic into a prismatic spray effect). Inside we fought a horde of allips, a couple living spells, an insane dryad ghost, a whisper demon, an advanced Flameskull (which had apparently once been the Circles leader) and a powerful feyri sorcerer my gold elf mage was tricked into freeing from this artifact called a Bloodstone Chamber the feyri wanted to recover (which was like an advanced Mirror of Life Trapping). Apparently the inhabitants had died in the Seven Citadels War when moon elf mages from Sharrven found their lair. We found some combatants from that fight frozen in stasis bubbles. The coolest thing was we found out my character's wizard/Spellguard/Harper father and his companions had already been there looking for a spellbook called the Song of Stillness, an artifact of Labelas Enoreth that contained a ritual to open a portal between planes out of temporal sync with each other, which the dad used to travel to Myth Adofhaer after his companions died. We have the spellbook now, my character had deciphered the ritual and we're questing for the components to do it ourselves (need 10k in diamonds, focii from both planes and a scale from the hide of Chronepsis).

Sorry, didn't mean that to be so long. I'll stay on topic now, I promise :)

Edited by - Cosmar on 05 May 2019 21:42:53
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Cards77
Senior Scribe

USA
745 Posts

Posted - 05 May 2019 :  23:39:36  Show Profile Send Cards77 a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd

quote:
Originally posted by Deepening Moon

Hello Cosmar,
can you provide more informations/details about the Circle of the Black Hand and maybe also about Bellan'daaran?
Sounds very interesting, and I could use it very well in an adventure, which I'm running just now (concerning Siluvanede, the fey'ri and also Graz'zt). So it would fit well, and with your permission (or the permission of your DM) I would maybe use some of your background-informations...
Thanks a lot!!



http://archive.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/mc/mc20010829d



Interesting. My group is just now searching Hellgate Keep for the stolen Staff of Silverymoon.

It would be way cooler to put it in the Crypt of the Black Hand than to just have it laying about.

Has the Crypt ever been detailed?
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ericlboyd
Forgotten Realms Designer

USA
2065 Posts

Posted - 06 May 2019 :  02:05:24  Show Profile  Visit ericlboyd's Homepage Send ericlboyd a Private Message  Reply with Quote
It has not other than to show where it lies vertically with regards to rest of Hellgate Keep module.

quote:
Originally posted by Cards77

quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd

quote:
Originally posted by Deepening Moon

Hello Cosmar,
can you provide more informations/details about the Circle of the Black Hand and maybe also about Bellan'daaran?
Sounds very interesting, and I could use it very well in an adventure, which I'm running just now (concerning Siluvanede, the fey'ri and also Graz'zt). So it would fit well, and with your permission (or the permission of your DM) I would maybe use some of your background-informations...
Thanks a lot!!



http://archive.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/mc/mc20010829d



Interesting. My group is just now searching Hellgate Keep for the stolen Staff of Silverymoon.

It would be way cooler to put it in the Crypt of the Black Hand than to just have it laying about.

Has the Crypt ever been detailed?


--
http://www.ericlboyd.com/dnd/
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