Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

the majority of the denizens in these lands are lizard-
folk. Once a Netherese principality, ruled by vampires,
and then a holding of the Zhentarim, the Marsh of
Chelimber is solidly within the grasp of Najara today.
Though each tribe of lizardfolk is dominated by a chief-
tain from among their kind, each of those leaders has
sworn fealty to the King of Najara.

FOREST OF WYRMS

In the end, it was through the Forest of Wyrms that I

fled Najara, though Dhosun advised me against doing

so. Ultimately, I chose it for the same reason he tried

to discourage me: because only a fool would enter this

wood intentionally. The forest is infested with a great

many serpents of both normal and monstrous varieties.

Sages who have studied the serpent-life of the forest

claim that some force seems to draw ophidian creatures

here and then changes them-varieties of snake that

ought not be poisonous bite with envenomed fang in this

forest, and most breeds of snake grow to nearly double

their size here. Ralionate, an ancient green dragon

apparently not aligned with the yuan-ti, makes this

forest her lair. It is good terrain for her; tall redwoods

and coarse pines create a dense, dark canopy.

Dhosun warned me that the ruins of Ss'thar'tiss'ssun,

an ancient temple-city, lie in the northern fringes of the

forest. At some point in the distant past, humans built

a small settlement, once called Serpent's Cowl, above

these ruins, but it now stands empty, likely due to the

depredations of yuan-ti. Though discernible as little

CHAPTER 2 I THE SWORD COAST AND THE NORTH

more than low hills in the forest today, Dhosun told me

that deep inside the ruins lies the Shrine of the Cowled

Serpents, a site of pilgrimage for the serpent-folk.

A place of great danger within the forest is Thlohtzin,

once the citadel of a lich and now an important site in

Najara's slave trade. Slavers from around the region

know that the serpent-folk pay good coin for slaves

brought here. They are then usually transported to other

places in Najara for service.

I chose to make my escape from Najara through the

Forest of Wyrms because, though serpent-infested, it

is a woodland yet, and I am at home in such places. I

moved through its shadows, remaining deep enough

within the forest to avoid notice but not so far as to come

near its heart, and then skirted its edges until I could

see the hills of Tri el ta in the distance.

TRIELTA HILLS

In the rolling terrain of the Trielta Hills, scattered with

small settlements of gnomes and halflings, life seems

pastoral and idyllic. Halfting farmers tend to their plots,

and gnome miners scrape out the interior of the hills

seeking the bits of gold and silver they may find waiting

there. No warlords threaten this land, no liches or drag-

ons plot to seize it for themselves. There are no great

castles to covet here, nor ruins to pillage. All told, the

place seems dull and unremarkable.

That, of course, is just the way its residents like it.

They enjoy their solitude, which is broken only rarely.