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Geography

Page history last edited by pbworks 7 years, 12 months ago

Planes

  • Shadowfell
  • The World 

 

Region

  • Elsir Vale: former site of Red Hand army attack located in the World.

 

City, Towns, Villages

 

Brindol

Location: Brindol is a small city in the heart of Elsir Vale located along the Dawn Way on the south bank of the Elsir River.

Details:  One of the largest settlements in the Vale, Brindol is a prosperous farming community and caravan stopover located along the Dawn Way on the south bank of the Elsir River. Orchards of apple and pear trees follow the river's winding shores, while broad grain fields and farmlands surround the town for miles in all directions. Brindol is the home of Lord Aaron Jarmaath. His small keep and the city walls are the only fortifications of note this side of Dennovar (city 100 miles to east). More details on Brindol can be found here.

Appearance: The city is almost completely surrounded by a 20 foot high wall of stone. The only stretch not protected by the wall is the section along the river that marks the city's north boundary. The bridges cross the Elsir river and connect the city with the river's far bank. The highest point in town is a hill nestled in the southeastern quadrant. A large well-built keep of stone surmounts this hill, its majestic towers rivaled by the presence of a nearby grand cathedral. Orchards of apple and pear trees follow the river's winding shores, while broad grain fields and farmlands surround the town for miles in all directions.

Features in: RaR, DotD

Plot Notes:  

 

Overlook

Location: At the very west end of the Elsir Vale, past the Westdeep Woods on the eastern slopes of the Stonehome Mountains.

Details:  Overlook was founded and built by dwarves after they threw off the shackles of slavery and chased the giants and orcs west across the Stonehome mountains. While doughty dwarf warriors hold the Watch, the city is far more cosmopolitan and includes peoples of nearly every race and culture known in this corner of the world. Dwarves are still the dominate group, but humans and half lings make up a close second, followed by dragonborn, tief lings, and a smattering of eladrin and elves, and an assortment of other, less familiar, races. Overlook is largely a trading center, and people on both sides of the mountain come to the city to exchange goods, rumors, and information. The city’s numerous markets and bustling streets makes it the ideal place to do business, thus characters in search of a particular tool or device are more likely to find it here than anywhere for miles around. The Council of Elders, a group of five male and female dwarves, governs Overlook. More details on Overlook can be found here.

Appearance: The dwarves erected steep walls to protect themselves, but as the city outgrew its original protections, the inhabitants raised more walls to encircle the growing population. So far, this has happened four times, giving the city four sets of walls, one inside of the other. The shantytown, the unofficial ninth district, grows beyond the eastern walls and it’s just a matter of time before the Council decides to raise another wall and add those squatters to the rest of the city. The outer walls are 100 feet tall, taller where they travel over higher elevation. Each inner wall stands another 20 feet tall. Overlook has nine districts (eight official), each distinguished by the types of its people there as well as the industry one finds there: Blister, Boneyard, Elftown, Forgeworks, High Hall, Nine Bells, Stonehammer, Tradetown, Shantytown Webmail (unofficial).

Features in: SoBW, SRoU, tLMoK, DotD

Plot Notes:  

 

Umbraforge

Location: 

Details:  a military enclave located in the Shadowfell

Appearance: 

Features in

Plot Notes:  

 

Shops, Inns, Bars

  • Hall of Valor: building in Brindol, raided, contains relics of Red Hand army battle. 
  • The Happy Beggar: an inn catering to the poor located in Overlook. 

 

Dungeons, Ruins, Towers

 

Bordrin's Watch

Location: In the Stonehome Mountains along the Drawf Road west of Overlook.

Details: Straddling the old Dwarfroad is a mighty fortress that was raised to control traffic across the mountains and protect the Elsir Vale from attack. Bordrin’s Watch contains one of the three access points to the tunnels beneath the mountains.

Appearance: The stronghold consists of a long wall, which is 150-feet tall and over 80 feet thick at the base, and it is punctuated with steep towers fitted with arrowslits. Battlements cap the wall, allowing sentries to watch the pass and defend the fortress from attack. Atop each tower is a pair of catapults. Ballistae and scorpions are positioned every 40 feet along the wall’s length. In the center of the pass is a massive gate. Its doors stand 100-feet tall, and it takes 40 aurochs to pull them open. The gatehouse surrounding the doors consists of two towers, each as tall as the wall and wider than three standing towers together.

Features in: SoBW

Plot Notes:  Only significant to SoBW
 

Castle Rivenroar

Location: Located in the Elsir Vale eight hours from Brindol in the mountains. Generally excepted to be located in the Giantshield Mountains, although it is never specified.

Details: Long-ruined castle discovered by Sinruth and used as a base of operations for Sinruth's Hand. Undead also inhabit the castle who Sinruth strikes a deal with to allow him to use the castle.  

Appearance: The location in RaR is actually the catacombs of Castle Rivenroar and it's not clear what is the status of the actual castle. The module describes it as "long-ruined" and "a sprawling underground complex". The map shows the catacombs as three levels where the main entrance is on the middle of the three. The top level is located to the east of the lower levels suggesting that it is not in some sort of structure. Likely the catacombs are built into the side of a mountain and only the entrance is visible from the outside.

Features in: RaR

Plot Notes: Only significant to RaR 

 

Mines of Karak

Location: 

Details: 

Appearance: 

Features in

Plot Notes:   

 

Monastery of the Sundered Chain

Location: The monastery is about 20 miles from Overlook, higher up in the mountains, and just beneath the Hammer, a great peak that loosely resembles a downturned hammer.

Details:   Constructed centuries ago to house an elite fighting force of Moradin dedicates, the Monastery of the Sundered Chain preserves the memories of the hard-ships endured at the hands of the giants, and it trains initiates in fighting arts useful for battling these foes. For generations, the monastery has stood as a symbol of dwarven perseverance and expertise in the fighting arts and one who trains there not only receives an excellent education in religion and combat, but also gains a mark of pride and honor.

Appearance: Most of the Monastery is underground build into cavernous rooms. From the outside the monastery is a looming structure capped with a red-tiled roof. Bas-reliefs adorn its exterior, capturing religious events and heroes in perfect stone carvings. It is surrounded by 50 ft tall walls and butts up against the mountains, which serve as the fourth wall. Access to the courtyard comes by way of a pair of 30-foot tall double doors, which are never locked. Inside the walls is the Hall of Moradin and the surrounding courtyard. Fine sand covers the courtyard and the spaces between endless rows of statues, each carved to commemorate the deeds of an ancient dwarf hero.

Features in: SoBW

Plot Notes: Only significant to SoBW 

 

Nexus (A.K.A The Vents)

Location: SoBW is not too specific on the location other then it is located underground and accessible via The Vents (see the map). The term Nexus implies that it is sort of the center of the tunnel system running under the Stonehome mountains. The only issue with this is that The Vents are a good 10 miles from the mountains and about 20-25 miles from the ranges center. So either the PCs travel the 20+ miles underground to reach the complex that holds the Nexus or you may consider moving the Vents (at least the entrance used by the PCs) a bit closer to the mountains. Even the description in the skill challenge mentioned "entrances on the mountainside". Also the Nexus has an escape hatch that the PCs use to escape the boiling water, but there is no indication on where this hatch leads, but presumably it's somewhere in the mountains. 

Details:  As mentioned the Nexus is implied to be the center of "old network of excavated passages and chambers" or at least where all those passages come together. The complex with the Nexus has a few rooms, including a shrine to Moradin. There is also "The Gauntlet" which is a long corridor with a bunch of traps, which doesn't make a lot of sense since this is facing towards the "dwarven" side of the mountain and doesn't protect the Nexus from the "Orcish" side of the mountain in anyway. This same system of passages leads to both the Monastery of the Sundered Chain and Bordrin's Watch.

Appearance: Not much is given, the Vents are naturally formed caverns while the complex that holds the Nexus is Dwarven consturction. 

Features in: SoBW

Plot Notes:  Only significant to SoBW 

 

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