Kamroth Estate The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

This is the home of the self-styled “lord” Armos Kamroth, a wealthy landowner who collects rents from scores of farmers and herders living in the countryside nearby. Armos is a brusque, balding man of about fifty who makes a show of loaning money in good faith and exacting only what the law allows—but somehow he has quietly bought up dozens of free farms over the years and turned their owners into his tenants.

Fallcrest Tenements The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

This large tenement structure features apartments for the city residents who do not own farms or who work in the businesses within the walls who do not have a permanent residence. Several families also live in the homes on the east side of the city. Most of the residents who live outside the walls are farmers and crafters who bring their wares to the Market Square to sell or trade.

The tenements belong to the Fallcrest government, they are not independently owned and operated by any individual. The weekly rent starting at 10sp/week is sent to the office of Lord Warden Faren Markelhay and is then used to maintain structures within Fallcrest, pay the militia and other things that keep this settlement flourishing. Rent is mostly dependent on what profession the person(s) is/are. People that have higher incomes will be rented to for an elevated rent fee (in other words, adventurers will be able to pay a lot more since they are usually "well off"). It does however have an individual that administers the weekly funds, a kindly woman by the name of Marita Olven. She runs a nearby office during the day that handles all business for the tenements.

Nentir Vale The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

The Nentir Vale is a northern borderland region of the continent of Nerath. The vale is now mostly empty, with a handful of living villages and towns scattered over this wide area. Abandoned farmsteads, ruined manors, and broken keeps litter the countryside.

Bandits, wild animals, and monsters roam freely throughout the vale, threatening anyone who travels more than few miles away from one of the surviving settlements. Travel along the roads or river is usually safe—usually. But every now and then, travelers come to bad ends between towns.

The Nentir Vale is a northern land, but it sees relatively little snow—winters are windy and bitterly cold. The Nentir River is too big to freeze except for a three to four weeks during the coldest part of the year.

The "clear" parts of the map are covered in mixed terrain—large stretches of open meadowland, copses of light forest, gently rolling hills, and the occasional thicket of dense woodland and heavy undergrowth. The downs marked on the map are hilly grassland, with little tree cover. The hills are steeper and more rugged, and include light forest in the valleys and saddles between the hilltops.

The Nentir Vale is neighbored by the Stonemarch to the west, the Harken Forest and the Witchlight Fens to the south, the Dawnforge Mountains to the east, and the Winterbole Forest to the north.

The vale is a cold and sparsely populated land, mostly covered in grasslands and light woods. The Nentir River and its tributaries run through the vale, ending in two main lakes. Despite its location, the Nentir Vale sees heavy snow during the winter months. The Nentir River only freezes a few weeks during the coldest part of the year, and summers are cool and mild.

In the age before recorded history, the Nentir Vale was a huge forest known as the Nentir Forest. This forest was home to a commune of treants that used magic to protect their home from the dragon overlords of the elder world. It is believed that the first elves that left the Feywild after the Kinstrife Wars ended came to the World in the southern region of this forest, a place now known as the Spiderhaunt Thicket.

Eventually, the Nentir Forest was destroyed when Malorunth the Eternal Ash died, and scores of dragons invaded the forest, triggering the so-called War of Endless Branches that destroyed most of the old forest. The region, now divided into the Winterbole and Harken Forests, became known as the Nentir Vale.

Before the age of the Ancient Empires, the Nentir Vale was dominated by the undead city of Andok Sur. In time, not even the gods could abide the evil actions of the inhabitants of the city, and they triggered an earthquake that destroyed Andok Sur, burying it below the region now known as the Old Hills.

In time, the empires of Arkhosia and Bael Turath conquered the lands of the Nentir Vale. Arkhosia built enclaves in the Winterbole Forest and in the Ogrefist Hills, while Bael Turath constructed theirs in the Witchlight Fens. During the Arkhosian-Turathi Wars, the vale was the battlefield of some of the most violent battles of those wars.

Up until about 400 years ago, the Nentir Vale was thinly populated. Human hill clans lived in the area along with remote domains of dwarves and elves. Stories of the hero Vendar and the dragon of the Nentir Falls date to this era, as do some ruins in the Gray Downs and the Old Hills. Giants, orcs, ogres, and goblins troubled the area. Saruun Khel, a city located in the depths below Thunderspire Mountain, was the center of an oppressive minotaur kingdom that subjugated most of the central and western lands of the vale.

When the southern Nerathi Empire was at its height, settlers began to travel to the north of the continent in order to expand the borders of their nation. Those brave would-be settlers navigated the Nentir River through a trackless swamp or traversed the uncharted Harken Forest that separated the region from the Empire. The first soldiers and paladins of Bahamut who came from the south founded the Gardmore Abbey as a key fortress, and launched their Crusade of Conquest to defeat both monstrous humanoids and the indigenous human hill clans to pave the way for the Nerathi colonization of the vale.

At the same time, a thane from the nearby dwarven kingdom of Shatterstone sent a battalion of dwarf warriors to establish a forward operating fortress in the mountains to help quell dragon assaults that were razing the new settlements founded nearby the Dawnforge Mountains. The dwarves named that fortress Hammerfast.

Along with the village of Fastormel, Gardmore Abbey defined the northern frontier of Nerath until the founding of the village of Winterhaven and the Barony of Harkenwold three decades later. As the borderlands became more settled, the heirs of Nerathi noble families began to move to the region and claim land of their own.

They established manors, settlements, and even monasteries through out the region. About 310 years ago, the Nerathan hero Aranda Markelhay built a tower near Nentir Falls. Around this tower, and the Moonstone Keep that was built later, the city of Fallcrest began to grow, until it became the center of trade in the region for the next 200 years.

150 years ago, Gardmore Abbey was destroyed when a resurgent force of orcs from the Stonemarch laid siege to the abbey. And a few years later, the Nerathi Empire fell as well, destroyed by the demonic hordes led by the "Ruler of Ruin".

Even without the Empire, the people of the vale prospered for a time. However, 90 years ago, chaos and ruin came to the Nentir Vale when an orc horde called Clan Bloodspear swarmed down out of the mountains to the northwest. Without the Imperial Knights to aid them, Fallcrest's army was defeated in a rash attempt to halt the Bloodspears in the Gardbury Downs. The orcs burned and pillaged Fallcrest and went on to wreak havoc all across the vale, destroying all in their path until they found their match in Hammerfast. The orcs suffered great losses and were forced to withdraw, leaving behind a broken and battered land.

The vale is mostly empty now, though there's a handful of towns and villages scattered around. Fallcrest and Hammerfast are shadows of their former selves. Abandoned farms, manors, and keeps can be found scattered throughout the countryside. Anyone traveling beyond a few miles from settlements risks attack by bandits, wild animals, and monsters.

This is a place in need of heroes.

Fallcrest Cemetary The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

Along the southern slopes of Moonstone Hill lies a large cemetary. Within this area lies a large stone cathedral, dating back to the founding of the city.

In the northern section of Fallcrest, on the highest hill within the city stands a massive long closed cathedral: a gigantic structure of stone that stands in the center of the cemetary itself, and it reaches fifty feet up into the air. Even though this structure is no longer used, it still has a magical light that appears right after dark which shines over the cemetary until the sun returns each morning. The cathedral sits within a large grove which makes up the city cemetary.

Legend has it that if one were to pledge his or her love to someone while standing on the main platform within the cathedral they would magically fall in love with them. This was no small feat since the cathedral is always closely guarded "being the noble cathedral of Fallcrest that it once was" by the city watch.

The seemingly harmless legend turned deadly one night when a young maiden named Isadel braved the eerie night time glow of the cemetery in order to properly speak her loved one’s name so that they may be eternal. She climbed to the top of the cathedral near the everglowing night time light so that she could both stay out of sight of the nearby city watch and bodly pledge her devotion to her love’s name highest that has ever been done. Unfortunately for Isadel, when she nearly completed her task, she slipped and fell from her high up perch at the top of the cathedral and fell to her death upon a magnificent grave stone resting near the structure.

When Isadel let go of her last breath upon the grave of a stranger a dark energy burst into existence that cursed the poor girls soul to forever haunt the grove that surrounds the ancient cathedral. And through the generations, as her spirit wandered the dark, people learned to fear the area so much in fact that bordering neighborhoods became vacant over time for no one could live peacefully with the spirit’s dark love songs dancing on the winds of the night.

Moonstone Keep The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

The seat of Lord Warden Faren Markelhay, Moonstone Keep is an old castle that sits atop a steep-sided hill overlooking the town. The outer bailey includes barracks housing up to sixty Fallcrest guards. At any given time about twenty or so are off-duty. Other buildings in the courtyard include a stable, an armory, a chapel, a smithy, and several storehouses. The keep is the large D-shaped building at the north end of the castle.

Stables The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

The stables are ran by River Amrun, a young half elven boy who handles the stables day to day operations. Mounts and such stabled here are well taken care of and groomed on a regular bases. River does not have set rates for stabling mounts, River usually works off of tips since he finds he earns a better living doing business this way.

These stables are located just outside of the Gray Hare so River gets a decent amount of business from outsiders who come to Desul Torey and stop by the Gray Hare for meals and rooms.

Ready For Content The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

Deepcrest Quarry The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

The quarry is referred to officially as Deepcrest Quarry. Many years ago, an earthquake split open what was then Deepcrest Hill a few miles east of Desul Torey. Thereafter, the locals stayed as far away from it as they could, until a group of adventurers about four years later found large gold and iron deposits within caves in the area.

It was soon swarmed by eager miners who found there both earth elementals and a "creatures of the dark", prompting the miners to hire armed escorts. Currently, the mines have been abandoned and mostly forgotten, not many even remember the true story being these mines.

Amberfoot Patisserie Shoppe The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

The Amberfoot Patisserie Shoppe is the bakery and home of Tobin Amberfoot, a young, brown haired Halfling who opened this Patisserie Shoppe some two years ago after traveling from Fallcrest. Tobin left Fallcrest to find a smaller community to tend to with his baked goods. He wanted to have a more personal feel with his customers and in a big city like Fallcrest, this was impossible to do. When seen working in his shoppe, he will be seen carrying several of his various cookbooks, pouring over new recipes. This patisserie shoppe is all Tobin has so he puts fourth a serious effort to make his customers happy. His wife helps with the shop as well, Jaila Amberfoot is very dedicated to her loving husband. They are well liked in the community of Phandalin but are worried about the recent influx of ruffians that have begun harrassing the settlement.

The shop stands next to the Stonehill Innn which gives this establishment a lot of business. The building is a small bakery, and surprisingly well stocked for a settlement of this small size, with the front of the shop facing the main street that goes through the center of the settlement. It has a small cellar for storing supplies, with the ground floor given over to the business and upper floor used as the Tobin's home.

The ground floor has two main sections. The front of the building is the store and is open to the public. Here, a counter ringed the room with large cabinets displaying the day's wares; there is also a bread bin. A corridor leads to the back of the building. The cellar of the building is used for storage, holding ingredients. At the rear was the kitchen and preparation area, with a large oven, cooling racks, and work bench. He has his own personal oven sent to Phandalin, to his new shop . . . he is rather fond of that particular oven, and he believes his oven is just as good as this so called "magical" oven in Nenlast.

The bakery has a small dining room at the front of the shop. Upstairs is a small living area, furnished with two couches, rug, and bookcase with a small bedroon in the back. Off of it is a bathroom with bathtub. The shop as a whole is very cosy and confortable and it very popular with the residents of Phandalin. At times the shop has been known to have customers from outside Phandalin . . . the Patisserie Shoppe is known throughout Nentir Vale.

Patisserie Shoppe Menu
BREADS
• Cheese Loaves: 7sp
• Wholemeal Loaves: 4sp
• Kibble Loaves: 6sp

SMALL CAKES
• Fruit Slices, with Apple, Cherry, or Apricot: 2sp
• Cup Cakes: 1sp
• Cream Puffs: 3sp
• Dwarven Rock Cakes: 8cp
• Cream Cheese Rolls: 1sp
• Elven Mini Sponge Cake: 2sp

LARGE CAKES
• Banana Cake: (When in Season): 2sp
• Chocolate Layer Cake (Wild Cherry Filling): 1gp
• Vanilla Layer Cake (Buttermilk Icing): 1gp
• Orange Cake: 1sp
• Walnut Crunch Cake: 5sp
• Five-Layer Black Forest Cake (with Rum Soaked Cherries): 17gp
• Lemon Chiffon Cake (Lemon-Strawberry Glaze): 1gp

PIES
• Apple Pie: 5sp
• Cherry-Walnut Pie: 6sp

COOKIES
• Sugar Cookie: 2cp
• Frosted Sugar Cookie: 5cp
• Spice Cookie: 2cp
• Orange Almond Cookie 2cp

DONUTS
• Cherry Donut: 1cp
• Blueberry Donut: 1cp
• Apple-Spice Donut: 2cp
• Powder-Sugared Donut: 1cp
• Cinnamon Donuts: 1sp

Kalton Manor The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

Back in the days when Nerath was settling the Nentir Vale, minor lords in search of land to call their own established manors and holds throughout the area. Kalton Manor was one of these, a small settlement raised by Lord Arrol Kalton about two hundred years ago. Lord Arrol intended to settle the lower vale of the White River, but it was not to be – the bog coughed up horrors beyond counting to drive off the settlers and crash against the Kalton Manor’s walls. At the end, Arrol and a handful of his servants and family lived alone in a half-finished keep slowly falling into ruin until they disapeared as well. Stories tell of a hidden treasure – the old Kalton fortune – hidden in secret chambers beneath the runied keep.

The Kaltons were always a noble family of dubious reputation. While many believed that the family died out with its half-finished settlement, but the truth is far more tragic. Survivors fled the area, but they carried its taint with them. A few of these bred a reclusive, twisted family that is poisoned by the Fens’ dark influence and whose members ponder death’s mysteries. The last Kalton to return to live at the ruins was said to be Anarus Kalton who, by all accounts, was the worst of the lot. In the ruins he was said to have explored the forbidden and the perverse. Rumour has it he was murdered by his own apprentices, who saw danger in what Anarus was trying to attempt. Others say the apprentices were worse than Alton and murdered him for his possessions and knowledge.

Kalton Manor is now a set of ruins comprising many buildings including a half built manor-keep, servants quarters, stables, kennels, barns, as well as nearby buildings once inhabited by those who were to work the land. All of these are decrepit ruins, roofless and open to the sky. One of Kalton Manor’s more notable ruins is the so-called Ghost Tower whose stones shine in the moonlight, but even this is now just a shell.

Ruins of Fastormel The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

Once a prosperous town on the shores of Lake Nen, Fastormel was destroyed by Clan Bloodspear and has never been resettled. The town was ruled by a Lord Mage (the most powerful wizard in town claimed the ruler’s scepter), and the Mistborn Tower of the last Lord Mage still stands amid the ruins of the town. The tower is shrouded in a strange silver mist that never dissipates, no matter what the weather would otherwise dictate.

Bodies of Water The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

Lake Wintermist

Restwell Keep The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

Restwell Keep "Keep on the Borderlands" is a very old keep. As the only major settlement near the Chaos Scar, Restwell Keep is a mandatory stop for adventuring groups, and members of all races can be found here.

Not long ago, Restwell Keep was a freewheeling place with lax law enforcement. Lord Peridin Drysdale, paladin of Erathis, recently took command. More than a few residents, accustomed to the old regime, resent the paladin’s uncompromising push toward order and morality. As a result, Drysdale’s authority is a constant struggle.

Mercenary guards watch the barracks, as well as the towers and gate of the outer bailey. Drysdale’s soldiers patrol the keep proper and the inner bailey. The lord has mandated that capable individuals serve as militia if the need arises which most willingly do. For most, lord Peridin Drysdale is a very well respected knight and his rule of law is well respected.

Restwell Keep, also known as the Keep on the Borderlands, is an ancient site that has fallen into ruins in the past and been rebuilt several times. It was home to hobgoblin kings, dragons, and any number of other monsters. During the Empire of Nerath it was the fortress of a dwarven bandit king who was eventually overthrown by Bertak, a half-orc general who served the emperor. Today it is occupied by Lord Drysdale, who seeks to bring civilization to this region. The keep guards the entrance to the Chaos Scar and serves as a bulwark against the monsters that live in the Scar. Lord Drysdale hopes that one day he can civilize the region and claim the resources of the Scar in the name of his goddess. Not everyone agrees with this plan however, and many fear that Drysdale intends to force everyone in the keep into service as an army to conquer the Chaos Scar. Additionally rumors abound of secret cults of Zehir or Tiamat among the keep’s inhabitants. Restwell Keep is likely to become a place of intrigue in the near future.

Three times the Keep has been attacked or besieged by humanoids or bandits, and each time it has held out and overcome its foes. Today it is a thriving community of people who have invested years of hard work into making this their home and willing to defend it to the bitter end.

This is a full castle "with a population of around 1,000", with a very large open area inside its curtain walls and a strong keep called the Inner Bailey built into the back, far from the only entry point, the main gate. Set on cliffs on all sides at least seventy feet high, with only one real entry point, this is a very secure location. Within the walls of the castle is a small village of sorts which will serve the needs of travelling merchants, who has seen better days since the merchant caravans have recently all but stopped due to recent attacks by humanoids and bandits. The keep itself is made of solid, well-fitted stone "although over the years the wear and tear has begun to show", with thirty to 60 foot walls topped with evenly spaced blocks called merlons that the defenders can hide behind or fire between at invaders.

Towers are placed at regular points with ballista in them (a sort of huge, heavy crossbow that is each manned by crews). Catapults are also sprinkled along the outer walls. Neither weapon is tremendously accurate, particularly the catapult, they are fired at an area, not a single target.

The walls are ten feet thick, with the merlons two feet square, and a raised area that the merlons are atop of three feet high, providing half cover for defenders. The portcullis is of hard steel and is held in place with a gear system. It can only be raised from within by the windlass system once the catch is released. It takes a full turn to raise the portcullis enough for a horse to ride through, or a phase to make enough space to crawl under. The bars are very strong and well made and the entire portcullis weighs 900 pounds.

Notable Locations
• Main Gate
• Entry Yard
• Common Warehouse
• Baliff's Tower
• Smithy
• Provisioner
• General Store
• Moneychanger's Shop
• Fountain Square
• Travelers Inn
• The Crooked Furrow
• Guild House
• Chapel
• Inner Gatehouse
• Stables
• Fortress
• Castellan's Chamber

Hammerfast The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

A dwarven fortress cut from the rock of the Dawnforge Mountains, Hammerfast is the largest and wealthiest settlement in the region. It is also the most haunted. The Trade Road runs up to the citadel gates and continues eastward beyond the Dawnforge Mountains. Hammerfast is governed by a council of masters, each the leaders of one of the town’s powerful guilds. The current High Master is the leader of the merchant guild, a dwarf named Marsinda Goldspinner. The inhabitants of Hammerfast look to their own first and don’t give away anything for free . . . "true to the nature of most dwarves", but they are honest and industrious.

The current fortress of Hammerfast is the third such "structure" to stand on the site and currently has a population of just over 3,000 rugged dwarves. The first was a Dwarven necropolis. As the nearby Dwarven colonies grew rich and prosperous, so to did the tombs and businesses catering to the dead interred there. So rich, that it drew raiding parties and eventually an Orcish horde. The orcs slaughtered the living dwarves and set about plundering and despoiling the tombs of the dwarves. Eventually, the easily plundered treasures and loot were played out, and the remaining tomb complex traps and now vengeful undead outweighed reward of the remaining treasure.

The orcs traveled on, leaving the necropolis a ruin. With the fall of Nerath, and the subsequent fall of the Dwarven colonies to famine, plague, and roving monsters caused the local Dwarven communities to make a fateful choice. "Why waste fortifications on the dead?" And thus, the ruins of the Necropolis of Hammerfast became the living city of Hammerfast. A strange (and epic!) tale tells of the negotiations between the dwarven clans and the orcish warbands, and the clerics and shamans of Moradin and Gruumsh hammering out their arrangement.

Today, Hammerfast is thriving with stark reminders of it's past. The remaining sealed tombs stand untouched on pain of death by decree of the Council. The ghosts of orcs and dwarves still walk the streets in the deepest depths beneath the fortress, some of them orc warriors slain in the Bloodspears' attack, others priests of Moradin or the necropolis's doomed guardians, and even a few of the dwarves laid to rest here long ago.

Such creatures enjoy full citizenship in Hammerfast, as long as they observe its laws. In a sacred compact struck with Moradin and Gruumsh, the town's founders agreed to respect the dead and defend their resting places in return for the right to settle here.

The upper levels are filled with dwarves, who are wary of outsiders, but will warm to anyone who will spend coin in their town. The lower levels are home to many business dwarves, such as smiths and miners. These areas are much less welcoming to foreigners due to dwarves not liking outsiders near areas of financial importance.

Hammerfast is a three-tiered fortress carved into the stone of the Dawnforge Mountains depths. The interior features extravagant masonry such as marble columns, archways, bridges, and buttresses, all of which are lit using a reddish-glowing stone called candlerock. A large metal forge envelopes the center of the city. Stairs and chain elevator systems near the edges of town are used for transportation between the higher and lower sections of Hammerfast.

The lower section of Hammerfast, near the mines, is darker than the upper levels. This area consists of several large structures and a giant domed temple made of flawless bronze in the center with doorways on each side, as well as a very large foundry with giant metal piping that filters off most of the smoke.

Off to the side of this section is the Darkhold Quarry mithral mine. The mine itself is made up of three deep holes that stretch down under the mountain. The expansion of the city shows in the mine design as well as the appearance that, once a section of the mine is hollowed out, the city slowly seems to expand downwards. Many mining buildings stretch around the center of the quarry. There are also a series of tunnels that go off to the sides of these main tunnels. Unbeknown to the dwarves of Hammerfast, one of these mining tunnels had broken into a cavern system that lead down into the Underdark but as of yet nothing has come from the depths beneath the city.

The Top Slab, also called the Arch, is built on a massive ring that sends neighborhoods and tunnels deeper into the mountain around it. Here is where most residential life is rooted, with thousands of stone-built abodes dotting the walls. A fine layer of soot tends to coat much of this slab, due to imperfect ventilation from the industrious center slab.

The Center Slab, also referred to as the Heart, marks the widest and most varied rung on the journey through Barad-dûm, and is stratified between the the residences of Hammerfasts dwarven elite and its wealthy merchant class. At the exact center of the slab-dwarves are very particular about geometrical symbolism-is the Pyrethrin, seat of the Iron Keeper. Radiating out from the Pyrethrone are the various fortress-manors of the dwarven noble houses, with several Carver barracks in easy reach.

Just below, the outer rings of the Center Slab are occupied by most of the city's non-mining businesses, from smithies, breweries, and jewelers, to tailors, butchers, and even tinkerers like the gnome-run Crack sackle Union.

The Bottom Slab, or the Pit, is the industrious center of Hammerfast, boasting many blast furnaces, courtesy of the Bronze Metalworks and their competitors. A network of fungus-farming paths called the Glowgrove works its way around this level, passing through all sorts of caverns. The mushrooms are harvested by the Toppers, the dwarven agricultural league that got their name from the small topside farms they tend above the city.

Five League House The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

Fiveleague House is more properly known as the Fiveleague Inn. It’s a strongly built innhouse surrounded by a wooden palisade. Fiveleague House caters to travelers and merchants coming or going from Hammerfast, a day’s journey (five leagues) farther east. The proprietor is a big, bearlike human named Barton.

Located on the Trade Road between Hammerfast and Thunderspire, Five-league house is a strongly-built fortified manor. A full-service inn, it caters to travellers who make use of the road. It is located at the intersection of the route northward to Nenlast. A days journey west of the dwarven stronghold, it is well appointed and known throughout the Nentir Vale.

Five League House sits on the main road going east to Hammerfast and west to Fallcrest. The Inn is a rustic inn found alongside Trade Road. The Inn is rather ordinary looking but has a warm, comfortable feel to it. The taproom in the cellar offers drinks to those who enter while the chambers above are available to rent. The prices of the food and drink served here are of reasonable prices but this establishments services are well worth the coin.

Five League House may be common in appearance but the food and drink served here is known across the region, even if the inn is of more common build, the food and drink are excellent. Respectable customers are always welcome as long as they have the money for their drinks and meals. Meals are served on pottery, pewter or copper services according to the customers order. Various leather jacks, pottery mugs, wooden tankards, pewter steins, glass flagons, crystal goblets, or silver chalices are used for the beverages.

The furnishings in the dining area such as the tables and chairs are worn and smooth from years of use. Many candles are scattered through the main floor for maintaining a comfortable ambience for its customers. The furnishings in the dining area such as the tables and chairs are worn and smooth from years of use. Many candles are scattered through the main floor for maintaining a comfortable ambience for its customers.

The main floor of this establishment is for the most part an open area with a large hearth set into the southernmost brick wall. Despite the rustic appearance of the inn, this structure appears to have been kept remarkably clean and organized. The second floor of the building is where all of the guest rooms are located, a total of six rooms are available. Usually most of them are vacant due to this towns remote location.

Each room has a comfortable single sized bed, several covers & blankets, a wash stand, chamber pot, a couple of towels, pegs for garments, and a comfortable sitting chair. All of the guest rooms are identical in appearance, all stocked with the same exact items. Each room is the same price and they each sleep a single person.

BREAKFAST MEALS
Peppered Bread: 12cp
Oatmeal: 8cp
Boiled Goose Eggs: 1sp
Chicken Eggs: 1sp
Fruit and Cheese: 10cp
Fried Potato Wedges: 5cp
Pork Sausages: 1sp

AFTERNOON MEALS
Beef Stew: 1sp
Spiced Sausages: 1sp
Roast Duck with Apples: 1sp
Cheese rolls with a Filling of Nuts, Honey and Vegetables: 8cp
Smoked Salmon Salad: 1sp
Apple Stuffed Mushrooms: 9cp
Kidney Pie: 2sp
Roast Goose: 1sp
Venison Steak: 2sp
Roast Beef with Cranberry Sauce: 1sp
Cornish Hens with Olives: 1sp

BEVERAGES
Whiskey: 9cp
Rum: 11cp
Beer: 6cp
Heavy Beer: 6cp
Ale: 7cp
Spiced Ale: 10cp
Mead: 4cp

The upper rooms are very clean, and all except the common rooms are heated. Each room has a fine bed, many covers & blankets, a wash stand, chamber pot, towel, pegs for garments, and several chairs and stools. The larger, more expensive rooms, have arm chairs, tables, footstools, bed warmers, curtained beds, and good rugs on the floor and wall hangings as well.

ROOM NIGHTLY PRICES
Guest Room: 7sp

Structures The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

Five League House

Tor's Hold The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

Tor’s Hold is a small group of steadings belonging to the seven children of Tor Hammerfist. Tor's Hold is the traditional home of the Tor Clan and is the largest fortress in Harkenwold, save perhaps the Harken Armory with a population of around 141 citizens. According to legend the first massive stone of the castle was lain in the year 100 AON by Tor Hammerhand himself, founder of the Tor Clan. It was the site of the Siege of Tor's Hold in A Heart of Sorrowful Power.

Tor's Hold was built by the eponymous Tor Hammerhand around the year 100 of the Age of Nerath. Old Tor has been dead for many years now, and his offspring have each raised small clans of their own. The elder of Tor’s Hold is Bran Torsson, a big, boisterous human of 60 years and the oldest son of Tor. Some accounts even claim Tor constructed the entire fortress himself, a nearly impossible feat considering the size of stone slab that make up the walls. The plot of land was likely awarded to Tor in recognition of his exploits as an adventurer. Tor's kin and those of his shield-brothers made the Hold their home. By generally keeping to their own affairs and upholding impressive defenses the Hold has remained in Torsson family hands ever since.

In the time of the Bloodreaver War Tor's Hold was briefly captured by the Bloodreaver Army of Chief Larkk, who was able to seduce Hergar Torsson and a few others to betray the clan with promises of dark power from Rob Boss. The actions of The Party and the Harkenwold Militia succeeded to help liberate the castle and return it to its rightful owners. The trouble with the Bullywugs in the Toadwallow Caverns requires the folk of Tor’s Hold to spend most of their time defending their lands.

Notable Locations
• The Lucky Dragon Inn
• Blacksmith Shop
• Miner's Exchange
• Watch House
• Tor's Keep
• Porter Provisions

• Ironhold Chasm

Notable Names
• Jonn Stockmer
• Adalbar the Hunter
• Bran Torsson

Settlement of Nenlast The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

Nenlast is a small town on the eastern short of Lake Nen. Directly north is Winterbole Forest, and to the south are the Old Hills and the dwarven outpost of Hammerfast. With a population of only about two hundred people, most of Nenlast's citizens are fishermen, catching black trout and bass out of Lake Nen and selling their catch across the Nentir Vale.

This tiny human village lies at the east end of Lake Nen. The folk here make a meager living by trading smoked fish to the dwarves of Hammerfast. They also deal with the Tigerclaw barbarians of the Winterbole Forest. When the wild folk choose to trade, they come to Nenlast to barter their pelts and amber for good dwarven metalwork.

It maintains a standing population of approximately 200 citizens year round. The population does not fluctuate from season to season, the warmer months might increase the population somewhat due to kinfolk visiting and such. The settlement sees a small amount of traffic from travelers who usually stop at the Black trout Inn but shortly after are moving on, and is used more as a crossroads than anything else.

The settlement is governed by Lord Mayor Thure Karn. The settlement has no real standing miltia, only a few locals "former adventurers" that casually keep watch over the settlement, and Nenlast has seen no trouble in a very long time. Their are a few shops and stores located here as well as the Black Trout Inn "which serves some of the finest food in the region" .

Farming and fishing are the primary source of income for Nenlast although the location does have a smithy which sometimes trades with outside settlements.

Like many small settlements across the Vale, Nenlast has autonomy in how it governs itself, electing its own officials and imparting its own brand of justice. Only when issues go outside their expertise or infringe upon another jurisdiction are they prone to ask for aid or upscale the matter to outside sources.

Nenlast holds frequent festivals, feasts, and fairs throughout the year, including the Forever Nenlast pageant, a competition for the title of "Gem of Nenlast" which is held until the following year when the Forever Nenlast pageant is held again, and also the midsummer Peachiest Pie bake-off is held during this celebration. The festival will also have other random events and contests that change from year to year depending on popularity.

The Forever Nenlast pageant is an annual festival, first held in 101AE. It consists of an interview, a talent show, and an evening wear exhibition. Persons who won in previous years may re-enter in later years to potentially win the title multiple times.

Though the competition is primarily held for residents, those from out of town may also enter; entry is open to all ladies of the vale. Other festivities during this pageant include a presentation of pies during the day, which are also judged in a competition, and a presentation of barbecue and smoked foods at night.

Notable Locations
• Black Trout Inn
• Chapel
• Docks
• Lord Mayor's Office
• Smithy
• Moneychanger's Bank
• Erkar's General Store
• The Drunken Boar
• Benton Stables
• Moon Tower
• Watch House
• Market Square

• Cemetary

Fallcrest The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

Fallcrest stands at the highest peak of the Moon Hills at the falls overlooking the Nentir River which can been by viewing the maps here and here. Here travelers and traders using the old King’s Road that runs north and south, the dwarven Trade Road from the east, and the river all meet. The surrounding ridges shelter several small valleys where farmers and woodsfolk live; few are more than six or seven miles from the town. In general the people outside Fallcrest’s walls earn their living by farming or keeping livestock, and the people inside the walls are artisans, laborers, or merchants. People with no other prospects can make a hard living as porters, carrying cargo from the Lower Quays to the Upper Quays (or vice versa).

Fallcrest imports finished goods from settlements downriver and ironwork from the Dwarven fortress of Hammerfast, and exports timber, leather, fruit, and grain. It also trades with the nearby settlement of Winterhaven. The surrounding hills hold several marble quarries that once produced a good deal of stone, but the area has little demand for ornamental stone these days, and only a few stonecutters still practice their trade. Fallcrest has a standing population of around 1,350; another 900 or so live in the countryside within a few miles of the town. The people of Fallcrest are mostly humans with a very small number of halflings and dwarves, travelers of all races pass through on occasion.

Fallcrest is divided into two main districts by a steep bluff that cuts across the town. The area north of the bluff is known locally as Hightown. This district survived the city’s fall in relatively good shape, and it was the first area resettled. To the south of the bluff lies Lowtown, which tends to be newer and poorer. In the event of a serious threat, people retreat up to Hightown—the bluff and the town walls completely ring this part of Fallcrest, making it highly defensible. The human noble Faren Markelhay is the Lord Warden (hereditary lord) of the town. He is in charge of all city justice, defense, and laws. The Lord Warden appoints a city council to look after routine commerce and public projects.

Fallcrest’s Hightown is guarded on two sides by a thick wall (the river and the bluffs protect the other two sides). It consists of two parallel barriers of stone block with a few feet of fill between them, and stands about 20 feet tall. Every hundred yards or so, a small tower strengthens the wall.

Two pairs of sentries (Fallcrest guards from the castle) walk the wall tops at night, but unless danger is imminent, the towers are left locked and aren’t manned. The main gatehouse is permanently garrisoned. The Fallcrest Guard numbers sixty warriors, who also serve as constables. Moonstone Keep is their barracks. The Lord Warden can call up 350 militia at need.

310 years ago the Nerathan hero Aranda Markelhay founded a modest tower overlooking the Nentir Falls, where the present day Moonstone Keep sits. With the tower overlooking it, a meager settlement began to grow as settlers from Nerath ventured into the new Northern Province. This settlement soon became known as Fallcrest. Over the next two centuries, Fallcrest grew into a small and prosperous city. It was a natural crossroads for trade, and the Markelhays ruled it well. When the empire of Nerath began to crumble about a century ago, Fallcrest continued to flourish.

Ninety years ago, a fierce horde of orcs known as the Bloodspears descended from the Stonemarch and swept over the vale. Fallcrest’s army was defeated in a rash attempt to halt the Bloodspears out on Gardbury Downs. The Bloodspears burned and pillaged the lower portion of Fallcrest and went on to wreak havoc all across the Nentir Vale, including the complete razing of Fastormel.

In the decades since the Bloodspear War, Fallcrest has struggled to reestablish itself. Fallcrest is a shadow of the former city; little trade passes up and down the river these days. The countryside for scores of miles around is dotted with abandoned homesteads and manors from the days of Nerath.

Notable Locations
• Nentir Inn
• Blue Moon Alehouse
• Halfmoon Trading House
• The Silver Unicorn
• Sandercot Provisioners
• Temple of Erathis
• Fallcrest Stables
• Moonsong Temple
• House of the Sun
• Fallcrest Harbor
• Moonstone Keep
• Fallcrest Cemetary
• Septarch's Tower
• Fallcrest Bathhouse
• Naerumar's Imports
• Kamroth Estate
• Watch House
• The Market Square
• Lucky Gnome Taphouse
• Fallcrest Tenements

Barony of Harkenwold The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

Harkenwold sits on the White River and consists of 5 settlements: Tor's Hold, Marl, Albridge, Harken and Dardun. Tor's Hold is a small hamlet and keep, Marl is a village burned by the Iron Circle as a warning, Albridge is the second-largest settlement (and home to Dar Gremath's rebellion) and Harken is the largest settlement (and the headquarters of the Iron Circle).

Also of note is the Druid's Grove (home to the druidess Reithann), the Toadwallow Caverns (the base of a group of bullywugs, including Gloorpk and Uggloor), Ilyana's House (home of the half-elf farmer Ilyana and her two sons), Dal Nystiere (an abandoned eladrin village) and the Woodsinger Camp (where the Woodsinger Elves live).

Half a dozen small villages lie along the upper vales of the White River. Together, they make up the Barony of Harkenwold, a small realm whose total population is not much greater than Fallcrest’s. Harkenwold is a small barony in the southeast reach of the Nentir Vale. Several small settlements and a number of steadings (isolated farms) are scattered across the broad dale of the White River. The great Harken Forest surrounds the realm, isolating it from the lands nearby. In better times, this quiet backwater contently avoids major trouble.

The Barony of Harkenwold is a broad valley just over 50 miles long and roughly 20 miles wide located between arms of the Harken Forest. This primarily open land consists of gently rolling hills covered in a mix of cheery meadows, light forest with little undergrowth, and the occasional thicket. The climate is cool and rainy. Many small streams wind their way across the land, eventually joining the White River. These brooks are at most a few feet wide, and small footbridges cross them regularly.

The people of Harkenwold are mostly farmers, woodcutters, and woodworkers; little trade comes up or down the old King’s Road. The ruler of Harkenwold is Baron Stockmer, an elderly man who is known for his strong sword arm in his youth. He is a just and compassionate ruler.

Harkenwold’s total population is about 2,000, scattered across half a dozen small hamlets and a score of isolated steadings. Most of the citizens are humans (50%), halflings (25%), and dwarves (20%), with a smattering of other folk (5%).

Harkenwolders living in the countryside are primarily farmers, shepherds, or woodcutters. Denizens of the hamlets also include woodworkers, smiths, carters, brewers, cheese makers, and leatherworkers. The other villagers tend nearby fields or orchards.

A steading is a farm or homestead in Harkenwold’s countryside. Each of these settlements features a strongly built house of fieldstone and timber, surrounded by approximately 200 acres of pastureland and cropland. Some steadings have defensive palisades around the main house. A single extended family commonly lives in the house — two or three couples with their children, their older relations, and a few hired hands. Rarely do the total inhabitants of a steading exceed 20 people.

Traveling on foot averages 2.5 to 3 miles per hour on roads or trails. Walking from Tor’s Hold to Easthill, for example, takes about two days. If the travelers avoid the well-traveled trails and strike out directly overland, the mixed terrain reduces their speed to 3/4 normal. Venturing into the Harken Forest or the Briar Hills is much more difficult. The rougher terrain reduces speed to half normal.

Traveling in Harkenwold are rarely more than a mile or two from the nearest steading. Most Harkenwolders are happy to put up visitors for the night, although the accommodations might be a dry barn or stable.

Notable Locations
• Marl
• Albridge
• Harken
• Dardun
• Easthill
• Tor's Hold

• Gravelstoke Mansion
• White River

Winterbole Forest The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

This vast ancient boreal forest stretches the expanse of the northern borders of the Nentir Vale from the Cairngorm Peaks to the Dawnforge Mountains. This boundary separates the Nentir Vale from the northern arctic tundra and frozen wastelands.

Almost primordial in age, ancient ruins from before the rise of civilized man lay deep within its borders. Here and there are places where the barrier to the realm of Faerie is at its thinnest. Many an elf city from the Feywild appears from time to time deep within the forest when the stars and seasons are right. The elves of this faerie woodland claim the deeper parts as sacred to them and defend themselves fiercely.

The vast expanse of the Winterbole Forest defines the northern border of the Nentir Vale and the limit of Nerath’s expansion at its height. The local inhabitants, fierce humans who revere the primal spirit called the Hunter of Winter as their totem, were never brought under Nerath’s sway, and remained uneasy neighbors of the empire at its height.

They trade with the people of Nenlast at times, but in harsh winters they have also been known to attack the village and simply take the food and weapons they need.

Being so near the northernmost region of Nerath, this woodlands remains relatively cool during the warmer months of the year but during the winter becomes extremely cold. Parts of the wood has an unexplained reddish hue about the forest floor and the bases of the trees. Large sections of the wooded region are thick with various colors of giant mushrooms. Small game animals lives in the forest, but larger creatures also dwell within, rumors also tell of a fearsome predator, the dragon named Ashranthrax that lives with the expansive forest. Locals of Nentir Vale hunt animals along the southern edges of the forest, but do not dare go deeper than a few hours on foot. At times, some of their fellows have gone missing while hunting in Winterbole Forest. Some logging also goes on around the edges of the forest.

The huge, old trees of this forest are so broad and leafy as to make the ground beneath dark on the brightest days. Terrible creatures like tenebrous worms and slow shadows abide elsewhere within the forest. Today, Winterbole Forest is perhaps the most dangerous location in the region. The trees remain standing, but they long ago lost their graceful beauty and are now tall and gnarled, and many rotting timbers projecting out of the ground. Mushrooms and other fungi sprout everywhere. A thick cloud of spores fills the air and blots out the sun, allowing the unnatural growths to flourish. Winterbole Forest is a dense, ancient woodland where towering evergreens loom overhead, their gnarled roots twisting through uneven ground. Moss-covered ruins and half-buried relics hint at civilizations long forgotten, while thick underbrush conceals hidden dangers. Near-constant mist clings to the forest floor, shrouding shadowed glades and stagnant pools, while treacherous ravines and tangled brambles make navigation difficult for anyone brave enough to actually enter the forest. Whether well-worn or newly forged, every path holds the potential for discovery—or disaster.

Ancient trees form an almost unbroken canopy. Occasional shafts of sunlight pierce the gloom. In some places, the foliage is so dense that day feels like dusk; in others, patches of golden light create serene, dreamlike clearings.

Moss-covered boulders, creeping ivy, and tangled brambles make travel slow and treacherous. Fallen logs serve as makeshift bridges over sunken ravines while shallow, sluggish streams wind through the undergrowth, their waters black with tannins. Paths where they exist are narrow and winding and often obscured by ferns and fallen leaves.

The terrain is uneven, riddled with jagged ridges, hidden sinkholes, and deep hollows. Massive stone formations jut from the earth, often covered in runes, overgrowth, or faintly glowing fungi. Small, secluded clearings serve as gathering points for what few wildlife, fey, and those who call the forest home.

Forests & Woodlands The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

Winterbole Forest

Available Races The Valelands & The Nerath Timeline The current year for our Valelands campaign is set during the year 103AE. Inspired By Gary Gygax

• Changeling
• Dragonborn
• Drow
• Dwarf
• Elf
• Gnome
• Goblin
• Goliath
• Half-Orc
• Half-Elf
• Halfling
• Human
• Orc
• Sylvan Elf
• Tabaxi
• Tiefling