Forlorn Hills

Crumbling Stair

This broken marble spiral staircase rises out of overgrown foundations on a ridge in the Sword Hills east of Waterdeep, between Ardeep Forest and Uluvin. It is all that remains of Taeros, a grand, turreted mansion that once stood proudly amid fanciful gardens adorned with fountains and pools. The house sprawled along a curving ridge in the heart of the human-ruled barony of Loravatha. Originally built by a merchant lord, Taeros became a school of arcane study for young lasses seeking to master sorcery under the direction of his widow, the sorceress Ybrithe. Twenty years after the founding of the school, the mansion was torn apart by southern mages seeking to plunder whatever they could. But before they could seize Ybrithe’s treasures, a latent magic trap blew apart the ridge, Taeros, and all the surviving attackers.

The Crumbling Stair now rises up from broken lands overgrown with scrub woods. The weathered staircase, made of green-veined white marble, rises six or so steps into the air from a dark hole at its base.

Beyond this aperture is a long corridor with a few attached rooms that once served as extensive cellars. The fore chambers are home to the maddened ghost of one of the attacking wizards and some sort of creature— possibly an all-consuming hunger - that leaves glowing slime-trails on the walls, floor, and ceiling. In addition, the phantom of a half-elf sorceress sometimes appears to point out collapsed tunnels and forgotten secret doors leading to a large warren of catacombs, which are said to be home to some sort of beholder.

Its other end descends into extensive underways, haunted by such apparitions as a disembodied human hand cupping a glowing selection of (sometimes whirling) gems; a dark, shadowy, and swift-gliding cowled human figure that points, beckons, or waves a sword; and a wild-eyed, finely gowned lady elf in chains, who screams soundlessly and gestures imploringly to be rescued. Their origins and purposes are unknown, but some of them lure intruders into deadly traps. The cellars are prone to ceiling collapses, and may harbour beholders.

Torstultok

Torstultok, or the Hall of Grand Hunts, is a temple-fortress of Haela Brightaxe. The place is well known among the Stout Folk of the North for the all-dwarf and mixed-race adventuring companies its inhabitants sponsor to reclaim long-lost dwarven relics from orc held halls.

Torstultok lies within a sprawling complex of tunnels and grand halls beneath the eastern end of the Watchers of the North — the line of tors that marks the northern edge of the Forlorn Hills.

Torstultok was known as Firehammer Hold before the Fallen Kingdom fell, and much treasure is still ascribed to the latter name in the tales of the North. Those same legends claim that the dwarves of Firehammer Hold perished in a plague shortly after the founding of the Kingdom of Man, but in fact the dwarves’ numbers had dwindled over time, and the leaders of the hold planted false evidence of a deadly plague to increase the security of the dwarves who remained.

An unexpected consequence of this action was the arrival in subsequent centuries of treasure-hungry adventurers seeking long-lost hoards of dwarven gold. To assuage the anger of such would-be plunderers, the dwarves hired them to seek out other dwarven holds that they knew to be occupied by orcs. From this tradition evolved the hold’s current role as a clearinghouse for battle-loving dwarves and adventurers of other races who sought glory amidst the ruins of long-fallen dwarven kingdoms. In recent times, Haela’s clergy have even begun to lure adventurers to the temple deliberately with ancient-looking, incomplete maps and other enticing items. Such a map may be found on the walls of a not-so-secret hidden room in the Singing Sprite—a slate-shingled, many-gabled stone inn located in the bowl at the centre of the three hills upon which the village of Secomber is built.

Uluvin

(Hamlet, 30)

Most traders dealing with Delimbiyr Vale avoid Uluvin, instead using the Delimbiyr Route west from Secomber, meeting up with the High Road south of Zundbridge. It's a dusty, spartan place with few trees, thirsty throats, a bad tavern, and a surprisingly pleasant and clean inn. Uluvin's a sleepy place where peddlers sell trinkets and folk turn out to chat with travelers to hear the news.

Watchers of the North

The northernmost line of of peaks of the Forlorn Hills, over two dozen in total, are known collectively as the Watchers of the North. According to legend, the dwarves of Dardath maintained a series of guard-posts high up on each peak, connected by a series of cunningly hidden stairs and tunnels that enabled the guards on each peak to come quickly to each other’s aid.

Unbeknownst to all but a handful of dwarven sages, the Watchers of the North were also named for the royal crypts of Dardath. Beginning with Tammas “Forkbeard” Ironstar, each ruler was buried under a different peak in an elaborately constructed crypt, with the exception of Bhauraun “the Younger” Ironstar, who disappeared into the High Forest and whose body was never recovered.