Barony of Vaelendaer

Barony of Vaelendaer

Capital	Hardoon (abandoned)
Largest City	Way Inn
Regent	High Knight Nanthar Harcourt
Languages	Illuskan
Government	Feudal Barony (Baron) (de jure), Protectorate (High Knight) (de facto)
Population	180 (scattered)
Realm	Duchy of Daggerford

The Barony of Vaelendaer encompasses the lands of the Open Marches claimed by the Duchy of Daggerford stretching from the southern borders of the Barony of Starnaer in the north to Dragonspear Castle in the south, and from the Trollbark Forest and Banshee Woods in the west to the High Moor and Misty Forest in the east. Once called Dragonfields, the land was placed under the control of House Harcourt after the first Dragonspear War. The Barony proved to be nothing resembling a boon for the house, as generation after generation of the Harcourts suffered mishaps and misfortune culminating in the death of the current High Knight Nandar Harcourt's father and elder brother during the second Dragonspear War and the complete destruction of the family seat of Moorgard Keep and the fortified town of Huldoon. The land has since reverted in common parlance to its ancient name of the Haglands and been mostly given over to the wilderness and the creeping blight curse that seems to cling to the rocks and twisted trees of this desolate stretch of the Trade Way.

Province Breakdown

Province	Law	Temple	Guild	Source
Vaelendaer (1/7)	NH (1), BQ (0)	Au (0)	Dauravyn Redbeard (1)	The Circle (5), SK (2)

Vaelendaer Holding	Level	Type	Regent	Description
Court of the Sheriff	1	Law	High Knight Nanthar Harcourt (Pwyll Daggerford)	The Duke of Daggorford maintains the office of the sheriff, in the person of the High Knight Nanthar Harcourt himself, at the Way Inn with patrol of 21 ducal guardsmen. These soldiers are often supplemented by patrols of on-duty militia riding down from Daggerford, and occasionally by soldiers of the Lords Alliance on extended duty from Waterdeep.
Court of the Sisters Three	0	Law (Hostile)	The Three	The will of the Duke and his high knight are actively opposed in this region by the reach of the enigmatic creatures known as the Three. Common legend claims they are an immensely powerful coven of hag sisters who have spies and agents in every rock and bird of the blighted land. What is known is that they are actively served by a small army of forest ogres, trolls, hagspawn, and corrupted forest giants that dwell within the depths of the Banshee Wood.
The Wailing Mount	0	Temple	The Keening	The Wailing Mount is blackened, desolate single peak that rises out of the center of the Banshee Wood. Said to be the domain of an immensely powerful banshee, the foothills of the mountain have become a place of pilgrimage for devotees of Cegilune, the hag aspect of Auril, as well as for followers of Kiaransalee.
The Way Inn	1	Guild	Dauravyn Redbeard	The Way Inn is a fortified inn and way station famous for its hospitality and protection in on this bleak stretch of road from Waterdeep to Baldur's Gate. The proprietor Dauravyn Redbeard is himself a former adventurer and is said to have contacts highly placed in the Lords Alliance.
The Circle of Nine	5	Source	The Three	The Circle of Nine is a reference to the nine hag covens who are said to control this region from their places of power in the Trollbark Forest, the Banshee Wood, the High Moor, and the Misty Forest. Their power is growing in recent years, and with the quieting of Dragonspear are said to have almost complete control of Vaelendaer's magical currents.
The Shadow King	2	Source	The Shadow King	Opposed to the rising power of the Circle of Nine, but certainly not to the benefit of mortal men, is the ancient and enigmatic power of the so-called Shadow King. Known by many names, including the Warlock, the Dead Man, and (by the wise) Larloch, the master of distant Warlock's Crypt is not a power to invoke lightly.

Places of Interest

Banshee Woods

The small reach of forest known as the Banshee Woods (which lies within the larger area known as the Haglands), which stretches to the north and east of the Trollbark Forest, has been avoided for centuries, even as logging slowly separated it from what became Trollbark Forest and the Misty Forest. The trees themselves are gnarled and twisted, suggesting some ancient magic remains at work. While a handful of hag coveys rule the periphery of the Banshee Woods, the depths of the forest are the exclusive preserve of a keening spirit, whose endless wailing echoes through the woods from dusk to dawn and can be heard as far away as the Trade Way when the wind blows just right.

Legends vary widely as to the origin of this tortured ghost. Somes tales speak of the “Lost Laranla,” presumably referring to Laranla Imdalace of Ardeep, who disappeared in the Year of the Slaked Blade (4 DR). Other tales refer to an Illefarni bard who was separated from her lover when an unknown attacker severed an Illefarni song-path during the waning days of Illefarn.

Dragonspear Castle

See Dragonspear Castle.

Hightower

Standing sentinel over the Trade Way at it's closest approach to the forbidding rocky cliffs of the High Moor is the lonely watch post called Hightower. Its true origins are lost to time and memory as the broken teeth of its partially tumbled walls have stood guard over the Open Marches since before the coming of men. Occasionally, travelers report seeing ghostly lights playing about the battlements from afar. Whether these are the fires of incautious campers, signals to some fell purpose, or the shades of the tower's original builders are unknown.

Huldoon

The ruins of Huldoon can be seen in the distance, set off the High Road near the Way of the Dragon down a dust stained road. The once thriving town, built around the strong castle of Moorgard Keep is now an abandoned ghost town, it's walls breached and tumbled and most of its buildings gutted by old fires. The scars of war and the desolation of the barony are clearly apparent here. During the day, the ruins can be the lair of orcs and goblins raiding from the High Moor, bandits prepping to raid weakly armed caravans, or worse beasts. Only the most foolish or dangerous beings will be caught in the shadow cloaked ruins when night falls however.

Trollbark Forest

There's scarcely a corner of Faerûn that does not have a forest, mountain range, or moor named for the troll. Like the rest, the Trollbark Forest is thick with these monsters. The forest's dense underbrush, thick twisted stands of ash, and many bogs make it a perfect hunting ground for monsters that can crash through thorny barriers and nests of poisonous snakes without taking permanent damage.

The Way Inn

See the Way Inn.