Post by DM Leverage on Jun 8, 2013 9:26:34 GMT -5
Aglarond
Capital: Velprintalar
Population: 1,270,080 (humans 64%, half-elves 30%, elves 5%)
Government: Autocratic (with representative council of advisors)
Religions: Chauntea, the Seldarine, Selune, Umberlee (disdained), Valkur
Imports: Glass, iron, textiles
Exports: Copper, gems, grain, lumber, wine
Alignments: N, NG, CG
Aglarond is hailed as the nation that keeps the Red Wizards from attacking the rest of civilized Faerûn, and the home of the powerful sorcerer known as the Simbul. Few give the country any more thought than this, but Aglarond is a place of ancient magic that holds one of the largest half-elf settlements in the world. Its army defends its borders against Thay, and its skilled rangers scout its frontier in search of trouble. The small beaches on Aglarond’s rocky coast are dotted with fishing villages, and since the Simbul has declared that all pirates are to be considered agents of Thay (and put to death if caught), the waters around Aglarond are very safe to travel. It is one of the few kingdoms that refuses to allow Red Wizard enclaves within its borders.
Life and Society
The humans of Aglarond are sturdy, no-nonsense fisherfolk, farmers, and herders unconcerned with the rest of Faerûn. They are slow to warm to a person but faithful to those they trust. A serious and hard-working people, they nevertheless enjoy revelry and exuberant celebration when their chores are done. They dislike magic, pointing to the Red Wizards as proof that magic is a corrupting tool of wickedness. The exceptions are unusually good individuals, such as the rulers of their land who have always used magic to defend them. They believe in the divine powers, but have few large temples.
The half-elves of the Yuirwood are descended from wood elves. The various tribal groups that live deeper within the forest assume a nomadic and tribal culture, while those on the outskirts abide by local human customs. They have no qualms about using magic, and some of the wilder tribes know strange old elven secrets of the Yuirwood.
All people of Aglarond are respectful of the Simbul, because it is her power that has kept the Red Wizards at bay for so long. However, that same power and her impetuous nature breed suspicion of her methods and motives.
Major Geographical Features
Aglarond is a wooded peninsula projecting westward into the center of the Sea of Fallen Stars. It divides the Easting Reach from the Alamber Sea.
Tannath Mountains: This range forms the southern edge of the Dragonjaw Mountains, south of the River Umber. The mountains are tall and rugged, flanked by wide passes. They have never been settled by humanoids, but griffons fly in the high peaks, and boulder like creatures called galeb duhr live here. The Watchwall, a thirty-foot tall, ten-foot wide wall of smooth, seamless stone, runs for several miles from the mountains toward the fortress Glarondar in the Yuirwood.
Umber Marshes: This span of bogs, swampland, and mudflats is Aglarond’s first line of defense against Thay. Inhabited by dangerous creatures such as stirges, poisonous snakes, hydras, shambling mounds, trolls, and disease-carrying insects, the swamp has foiled attacks by Thayan armies more than once.
Yuirwood: Home to the kingdom’s half-elves, this forest is filled with old ruins. Detection and scrying magic cannot reach into the forest, and those who try see only a cluster of unremarkable trees rather than what they’re looking for. This effect makes it difficult for enemies to discover the half-elves’ settlements and fortifications. Some of the forest’s stone circles act as portals to elsewhere in Toril (including Evermeet) and even other worlds.
Important Sites
Aglarond proper consists of the Yuirwood and the cities on the northern coast of the peninsula. The cities on the southern coast are independent and greatly threatened by Thay.
Altumbel: This small human kingdom occupies the westernmost portion of the Aglarondan peninsula. It is loosely allied with Aglarond but has little contact with its neighbors. Its people are extremely reclusive, isolated, and outwardly hostile to nonhumans. The dreary, constantly windswept place survives by fishing.
Emmech (Small City, 7,620): This grim fortress holds over a third of Aglarond’s army. A small town has spring up around it, with the fortress looking over the town from a low hill. It holds enough supplies to feed its soldiers and everyone in the town for up to a six-month siege.
Furthinghome (Metropolis, 40,643): One of the first human settlements here, Furthinghome is a poor community, with many on the outskirts living in lean-tos and thatch huts. Its greenhouses hold the cultivated tropical flowers for which the city is known. The coastal waters are shallow, only allowing small vessels.
Relkath’s Foot (Small City, 5,080): The largest permanent settlement of half-elves in the Yuirwood, this town is built around four large and very old trees. The town’s militia is active in the region, frequently practicing ambushes and spying on passersby. Human rangers often seek training from the foresters of Relkath’s Foot.
Velprintalar (Metropolis, 66,044): This is the only major port in Aglarond. Its narrow buildings jumbled together can be confusing to visitors, and the city has no walls. Velprintalar is the meeting-place for Aglarond’s council and the location of the Simbul’s palace of green stone.
Regional History
Long ago, the Yuirwood was inhabited by wood elves. They mastered powerful magic, built stone menhirs and circles, and lived peacefully within their realm. Eventually monsters pushed into the elves’ territory, and the elves retreated to areas deeper within the wood. Humans arrived in this region in 756 DR, settling in the south, cutting wood, and clashing with monsters and the elves. When adventurers came to slay monsters, the elves of the Yuir retreated farther into the wood.
After a time, humans penetrated the wards of the Yuir and allied with the weary elves. The humans helped the elves destroy monsters, and the two races intermarried. Their half-elven descendants began to reclaim the wood. Eventually they came into conflict with the humans on the coast, who had continued to breed, populate, and log the forest. The angry half-elves told the humans to stop but where ignored, and so they raided against the coastal dwellers, driving away or killing humans who resisted. In 1065 DR they fought the battle of Ingdal’s Arm and sued for peace between the races, creating the nation of Aglarond. Some of the humans refused to share power and moved to the end of the peninsula to form the country of Altumbel.
Aglarond was ruled by a series of half-elven kings, many of whom were killed by Thayan invaders. Two heirs of the royal line, Thara and Ulae (known as the Gray Sisters) took the throne when their brother died, and they kept Aglarond safe for years. Ulae’s daughter Ilione selected her apprentice, a woman known only as the Simbul, to be her heir, and the Simbul has defended her country against Thay ever since she took the throne in 1320 DR.
In 1371 DR the zulkirs approached the Simbul with an offer to cease hostilities and declare a truce, which the Simbul accepted with a healthy dose of skepticism. The Thayans seem to be holding to their end of the bargain, so the Simbul has turned her power to improving the lives of her people, as well as expanding the fortifications and wards against her longtime enemies.
- Source: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
Capital: Velprintalar
Population: 1,270,080 (humans 64%, half-elves 30%, elves 5%)
Government: Autocratic (with representative council of advisors)
Religions: Chauntea, the Seldarine, Selune, Umberlee (disdained), Valkur
Imports: Glass, iron, textiles
Exports: Copper, gems, grain, lumber, wine
Alignments: N, NG, CG
Aglarond is hailed as the nation that keeps the Red Wizards from attacking the rest of civilized Faerûn, and the home of the powerful sorcerer known as the Simbul. Few give the country any more thought than this, but Aglarond is a place of ancient magic that holds one of the largest half-elf settlements in the world. Its army defends its borders against Thay, and its skilled rangers scout its frontier in search of trouble. The small beaches on Aglarond’s rocky coast are dotted with fishing villages, and since the Simbul has declared that all pirates are to be considered agents of Thay (and put to death if caught), the waters around Aglarond are very safe to travel. It is one of the few kingdoms that refuses to allow Red Wizard enclaves within its borders.
Life and Society
The humans of Aglarond are sturdy, no-nonsense fisherfolk, farmers, and herders unconcerned with the rest of Faerûn. They are slow to warm to a person but faithful to those they trust. A serious and hard-working people, they nevertheless enjoy revelry and exuberant celebration when their chores are done. They dislike magic, pointing to the Red Wizards as proof that magic is a corrupting tool of wickedness. The exceptions are unusually good individuals, such as the rulers of their land who have always used magic to defend them. They believe in the divine powers, but have few large temples.
The half-elves of the Yuirwood are descended from wood elves. The various tribal groups that live deeper within the forest assume a nomadic and tribal culture, while those on the outskirts abide by local human customs. They have no qualms about using magic, and some of the wilder tribes know strange old elven secrets of the Yuirwood.
All people of Aglarond are respectful of the Simbul, because it is her power that has kept the Red Wizards at bay for so long. However, that same power and her impetuous nature breed suspicion of her methods and motives.
Major Geographical Features
Aglarond is a wooded peninsula projecting westward into the center of the Sea of Fallen Stars. It divides the Easting Reach from the Alamber Sea.
Tannath Mountains: This range forms the southern edge of the Dragonjaw Mountains, south of the River Umber. The mountains are tall and rugged, flanked by wide passes. They have never been settled by humanoids, but griffons fly in the high peaks, and boulder like creatures called galeb duhr live here. The Watchwall, a thirty-foot tall, ten-foot wide wall of smooth, seamless stone, runs for several miles from the mountains toward the fortress Glarondar in the Yuirwood.
Umber Marshes: This span of bogs, swampland, and mudflats is Aglarond’s first line of defense against Thay. Inhabited by dangerous creatures such as stirges, poisonous snakes, hydras, shambling mounds, trolls, and disease-carrying insects, the swamp has foiled attacks by Thayan armies more than once.
Yuirwood: Home to the kingdom’s half-elves, this forest is filled with old ruins. Detection and scrying magic cannot reach into the forest, and those who try see only a cluster of unremarkable trees rather than what they’re looking for. This effect makes it difficult for enemies to discover the half-elves’ settlements and fortifications. Some of the forest’s stone circles act as portals to elsewhere in Toril (including Evermeet) and even other worlds.
Important Sites
Aglarond proper consists of the Yuirwood and the cities on the northern coast of the peninsula. The cities on the southern coast are independent and greatly threatened by Thay.
Altumbel: This small human kingdom occupies the westernmost portion of the Aglarondan peninsula. It is loosely allied with Aglarond but has little contact with its neighbors. Its people are extremely reclusive, isolated, and outwardly hostile to nonhumans. The dreary, constantly windswept place survives by fishing.
Emmech (Small City, 7,620): This grim fortress holds over a third of Aglarond’s army. A small town has spring up around it, with the fortress looking over the town from a low hill. It holds enough supplies to feed its soldiers and everyone in the town for up to a six-month siege.
Furthinghome (Metropolis, 40,643): One of the first human settlements here, Furthinghome is a poor community, with many on the outskirts living in lean-tos and thatch huts. Its greenhouses hold the cultivated tropical flowers for which the city is known. The coastal waters are shallow, only allowing small vessels.
Relkath’s Foot (Small City, 5,080): The largest permanent settlement of half-elves in the Yuirwood, this town is built around four large and very old trees. The town’s militia is active in the region, frequently practicing ambushes and spying on passersby. Human rangers often seek training from the foresters of Relkath’s Foot.
Velprintalar (Metropolis, 66,044): This is the only major port in Aglarond. Its narrow buildings jumbled together can be confusing to visitors, and the city has no walls. Velprintalar is the meeting-place for Aglarond’s council and the location of the Simbul’s palace of green stone.
Regional History
Long ago, the Yuirwood was inhabited by wood elves. They mastered powerful magic, built stone menhirs and circles, and lived peacefully within their realm. Eventually monsters pushed into the elves’ territory, and the elves retreated to areas deeper within the wood. Humans arrived in this region in 756 DR, settling in the south, cutting wood, and clashing with monsters and the elves. When adventurers came to slay monsters, the elves of the Yuir retreated farther into the wood.
After a time, humans penetrated the wards of the Yuir and allied with the weary elves. The humans helped the elves destroy monsters, and the two races intermarried. Their half-elven descendants began to reclaim the wood. Eventually they came into conflict with the humans on the coast, who had continued to breed, populate, and log the forest. The angry half-elves told the humans to stop but where ignored, and so they raided against the coastal dwellers, driving away or killing humans who resisted. In 1065 DR they fought the battle of Ingdal’s Arm and sued for peace between the races, creating the nation of Aglarond. Some of the humans refused to share power and moved to the end of the peninsula to form the country of Altumbel.
Aglarond was ruled by a series of half-elven kings, many of whom were killed by Thayan invaders. Two heirs of the royal line, Thara and Ulae (known as the Gray Sisters) took the throne when their brother died, and they kept Aglarond safe for years. Ulae’s daughter Ilione selected her apprentice, a woman known only as the Simbul, to be her heir, and the Simbul has defended her country against Thay ever since she took the throne in 1320 DR.
In 1371 DR the zulkirs approached the Simbul with an offer to cease hostilities and declare a truce, which the Simbul accepted with a healthy dose of skepticism. The Thayans seem to be holding to their end of the bargain, so the Simbul has turned her power to improving the lives of her people, as well as expanding the fortifications and wards against her longtime enemies.
- Source: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting