founding of Helm's Hold, and her quick-rising popularity
among the people has won her a seat as a Speaker.
Dominating the skyline of the hold is the great edi-
fice: the Cathedral of Helm. As much a fortification as
it is a temple, the cathedral has a small building on its
grounds that serves as an orphanage, wards for caring
for the sick and injured, as well as a newer addition that
houses the mad and deformed who have been brought
up from the catacombs.
The settlement enjoys prosperity today, but such
benefit was hard-won and requires vigilance to retain.
Helm's Hold is vulnerable on many fronts, in large part
because of its proximity to Neverwinter Wood-which, if
anything, has become more dangerous in recent times.
Rumors of maddened treants abound, as well as stories
of Uthgardt barbarians once again raiding the trails that
lead to the hold.
Worse still, the Holy Watcher has seen premonitions
of something unspeakable rising from the depths
beneath the hold, bringing down the lowest vaults of the
cathedral in its bloody ascension. As a result, the temple
has dramatically increased guard patrols in the tunnels,
perhaps as a prelude to hiring adventurers to explore
the tunnels deep under Helm's Hold for some clue of
what those visions might portend.
HIGH FOREST
Anyone with even a hint of elven blood can't help but feel
it stir upon setting foot in the High Forest. The sheer
age and the power of the trees, the depth of their roots,
and the wind whispering through their leaves-all these
things call to us.
A vast green cloak in the midst of the North, the High
Forest is a reminder of ages past, when thick woods
blanketed much of Faerfin, and sylvan creatures of all
types lived among the trees. Even today the High Forest
has barely known the tread and touch of humans, and
old growth dominates its flora.
Elven communities in the forest are typically small
and often nomadic. In part, this is a reflection of the
desire to keep the woods untouched, but there are ruins
here, such as those of Ascalhorn-now called Hellgate
Dell-that remind us of the fallen cities and empires
of the past.
The High Forest once sheltered three great elven
realms beneath its boughs, and the bones of those
empires still lie tangled in its roots. Many tribes of wood
elves-and a few moon elf tribes-still roam the wood
protecting these ruins, the monuments to their golden
age. Few beyond the borders of the High Forest know
much about these elves, who have no single leader and
make little contact with the outside world. Travelers in
the High Forest must always be wary of elves they meet
for they can never be sure of their welcome, and any
promises of safe passage might not be honored by the
next band of elves.
One elf is leading the effort to change this situation.
Known as the Red Lady, or simply the Lady of the Wood,
Morgwais is a wood elf who seeks to unite the disparate
tribes. She leads the Caerilcarn, the "Council of the
Wood," which periodically gathers many tribal leaders
together to share information, consult, and deliberate.
CHAPTER 2 I THE SWORD COAST AND THE NORTHHer stated aim is to resurrect the kingdom of Eaerlann,
and she has made bold steps in that direction by allying
the settlements of Nordahaeril, Reitheillaethor, and Teu-
veamanthaar (which most know as Tall Trees). As yet
though, the elves who believe in this vision are small in
number and spread far apart over the eastern reaches of
the High Forest.
Fey and sylvan creatures of all sorts-including satyrs,
dryads, and treants-inhabit the High Forest. Small
wonder that one almost immediately feels the presence
of unseen watchers upon entering the woods.
Nowhere in the forest is this feeling more palpable
than near the Grandfather Tree, an oak larger than
you might imagine possible, which serves as a holy site
for the Treeghost tribe of the Uthgardt. Four smaller
oaks-enormous indeed, though still smaller than the
Grandfather-mark the boundaries of the site, protect-
ing the tree and aiding those whom its spirits determine
are worthy, speeding their natural healing. Teleporta-
tion magic often goes awry here, and the caverns deep
beneath the site are rumored to contain all manner of
magical portals.
If it isn't the elves, the fey, or the trees themselves
watching visitors, it might be the centaurs who make
the High Forest their home, claiming the plateaus near
the head of the Unicorn Run. For decades, the centaurs
have been growing in number, enough so that they may
soon divide their tribes and claim additional lands as
their territory. Pegasi and unicorns can be found here,
and even some of the fabled aarakocra, the winged bird-
folk, live among the peaks at the heart of the wood.
Within the depths of the forest is an entire mountain
range known as the Star Mounts. Constant strong
winds keep weaker flying creatures from approaching
the peaks of the mountains, with the strange excep-
tion of the aarakocra, who had an ancestral homeland
there before being chased out by a dragon. Most the
peaks may be viewed only from afar, and at a distance
they seem to glitter from the strange, massive crystals
dotting their slopes. They are also known to hold rich
deposits of iron and nickel, but no one has mined these
mountains in hundreds of years.
The Star Mounts are the source of the waters of
the Unicorn Run, which cuts through the rocks of the
lower range to form a series of gorges and cliffs known
as the Sisters. The sight of the tiered waterfalls is
positively breathtaking, well worth the challenge of
reaching them. Mist shrouds the Sisters, and feeds
the vegetation on the small plateaus of the area. To
the north, the headwaters of the Dessarin River flow
down from a smaller pair of mountains called the
Lost Peaks.
Far less idyllic are the cursed ruins of Karse. Here are
the remains of the great heresy of the Netherese wizard
Karsus, who sought to claim godhood, slew the god-
dess of magic, and brought about the end of an age and
untold destruction across the entire world.HIGH MOOR
The High Moor was once a place much like the High
Forest or the nearby Misty Forest, but during the Crown
Wars, thousands of years ago, powerful magic burned