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Northern Ergoth

Steel's thoughts were centered on Trevalin, on his talon. He imagined his comrades flying into what was bound to be a challenging fight with the Ergothians, humans of enormous courage and prowess, who had held their lands all during the War of the Lance and who were determined to hold them now.

- Steel Brightblade imprisoned,
Dragons of Summer Flame

One of the oldest realms in Ansalon, the Empire of Ergoth introduced many traditions of intrigue and roguery now widely accepted across the land. For instance, the folk of Ansalon know Ergoth as the birthplace of thief guilds and the home of the Bard College. In addition, the people of Ergoth themselves embody the very spirit of defiance. As the passage above indicates, Ergothians are made of strong stuff - strong enough to keep their land intact through countless wars, two Cataclysms, and even the Summer of Chaos.

Despite its three thousand years of culture and history, though, very little has been written about Ergoth, primarily because the Empire had become quite a backwater after the Cataclysm. Now, the decline of the former Solamnian lands under the shadow of dragon and Dark Knight sees Ergoth once again emerging as the center of culture and learning on Ansalon.

This chapter expands the information provided in the FIFTH AGE boxed set about the island of Northern Ergoth. As one of the few realms in Ansalon relatively free of threat from the Great Dragons, Narrators can choose this locale for campaigns featuring different themes. This island contains barbarian and civilized cultures, kender, gully dwarves, ancient ruins, and forgotten remnants of lost civilizations - all the makings of an exciting campaign. In addition, it is a land rife with political intrigue, and thieves and diplomats alike thrive in Gwynned, Ergoth's large capital city. Heroes can attempt a variety of quests without ever leaving the island.

Geography

The island of Northern Ergoth, just west of mainland Ansalon, was in fact part of the mainland in the ages before the first Cataclysm rent the land. Scholars from the Empire of Ergoth divide the island into two distinct realms: the Empire in the west and the kender nation of Hylo in east.

In truth, the island contains three other distinct realms, which the empire has claimed in its bid to regain a fraction of its former size. The goblin- and gully dwarf-infested land of Sikk'et Hul in the south and the barbaric Ackal region in the north continue to ignore the Empire's claim of sovereignty. The marshy northeastern area of Ogaral - also considered a province of the Empire (in name only) - remains home to a naga and a clan of disturbingly intelligent trolls. All these realms appear on the color poster map of Ergoth.

Despite the island's position at the same longitude as tropical Nordmaar far to the east, it enjoys much more temperate weather. Its relatively mild summers last from Corij to Sirrimont, and the winters extend from Phoenix to Rannmont. (See the Ansalonian Calendar on the back cover of Dusk or Dawn.) Currents from the southern Sirrion Sea cool the island during the summer months and bring to the island some of the chill of winter.

The Sentinel range runs the length of Northern Ergoth from north to south, dividing the island in two. Steep passes lead through the mountains in several places.

The island's western and northern regions, which contain the Empire proper and the province of Ackal, feature lush, grassy plains. Ages ago forests covered this land, but as the Ergothian Empire expanded, its citizens felled them to build ships and the cities of Truth, Gulfport, Lancton, Gwynned, and points even farther west and south (now part of the mainland or the isle of Southern Ergoth). These forests produced the finest quality wood on the continent.

The southern end of the island comprises a hilly desert of scrub and sage. This harsh land is home to the goblin and Aghar nation of Sikk'et Hul. Since the White Dragon buried most of Southern Ergoth in snow, these folk have had to struggle even harder for survival in their chilly land.

The eastern part of the island remains awash in lush old-growth forests. Since before the rise of the Ergothian Empire, the territory from the eastern coast to the foothills of the Sentinel Mountains has been inhabited by kender. While they call their homeland Hylo, other Ergothians know it as Kenderhome, as do many of Ansalon's cartographers. This forested land, like the rest of the island, enjoys a far cooler climate than one might suppose based on its proximity to the equator. Summer weather remains cool and pleasant, and in winter the mild climate results in wet snow that is just right for packing.

Empire of Ergoth

Volumes in the ancient library of the Imperial University in Gwynned detail the history of the people, places, and races of the Empire of Ergoth from its earliest days to the present. Long scoffed at by scholars of other realms, the university today enjoys a renaissance, thanks to the influx of scholars fleeing occupied Palanthas. Academics across Ansalon have begun to reevaluate Gwynned's library, which outsiders had long considered nothing but a collection of outdated tomes and inflated legends about the empire's lost glory days.

This section summarizes the history of Ergoth proper and its "provinces" up to the year 31SC and describes their culture and current happenings as well. The university library's vast historical section provided the source of this information; where it contradicts established accounts, both versions have been included to allow the reader to decide the truth for himself.

Ergoth Proper

Ergoth is enjoying a population boom and cultural resurgence during the Fifth Age, thanks to the influx of immigrants from former Solamnian provinces now held by Khellendros the Blue.

Important Holdings

The variety of civilized settlements, magical sites, and ancient ruins makes Ergoth proper a popular place for adventurers seeking their fortunes.

Noteworthy Settlements

All across Ergoth, new towns have popped up to serve the needs of newcomers, and established towns have swelled beyond their city walls.

Hillfal. The most important settlement in the northern part of Ergoth, the fortress town of Hillfal stands perched on the steep banks of the Alunatal River, guarding both it and the nearby mountain pass from invasion by the barbaric Ackalite tribes to the north. This austere fortress started out as just a small toll station, established to collect fees from caravans traveling from Gulfport through the mountain pass toward Solamnia, or returning through the pass. The Ackalites razed the station in an uprising during the reign of Emperor Redic I, though the empire ultimately managed to beat them back to the northern tip of the island. Hillfal's ruins formed the foundation for a new, strong fort.

Completed in 230AC, Hillfal is the newest fortress of Ergothian build in the empire. No less than a legion remains stationed here at any given time. The village of two hundred people just south of the fort consists mostly of shops, houses of ill repute, gladiatorial pits, and even shadier establishments that imperial troops frequent for an evening's diversion.

Gulfport. A remnant of the ancient Emperor's Road leads south from Hillfal to Gulfport. Once a major center of commerce, Gulfport remains Ergoth's largest merchant harbor. (The imperial fleet and the Solamnian warships that escaped Palanthas after the coming of the Blue fill the harbor at Gwynned.)

Ergothians also know Gulfport as the empire's primary metalworking site. The realm's finest artisans and weaponsmiths live here, working with metals imported from Sancrist or cut from nearby Wind Dancer Mine (so named for the long-abandoned abodes of the lost Kyrie, located on the mountain's least accessible peaks). This mine - perhaps the richest in all of Ansalon - has remained productive since 567PC, and new shafts delve ever deeper into Krynn's surface.

Tantyvil. South of Gulfport lies the hamlet of Tantyvil, a living monument to the battle of wills between a father and son around 300AC. The elder son of Gulfport's aging lord was eager to assume power, but the old man would not step down. The son, already grown wealthy from New Sea trade, decided to break his father and Gulfport by constructing a city of his own.

He named it Tantyvil after his wife and spent his entire fortune building homes, docks, stables, inns, smithies, shops, and defenses. When finished, he had constructed one of the most aesthetically pleasing towns in the empire, for it was planned, not grown. He even had he had the blessings of the emperor - Redic IV believed Ergoth could never have enough port towns. Yet Tantyvil never attracted more than a handful of sea barbarian traders and some fishermen. Old habits die hard, and Tantyvil lacked Gulfport's primary feature: its link with Wind Dancer Mine.

Today, much of Tantyvil lies in disrepair. Rumors call the town the secret headquarters of the thief guilds, but otherwise it remains a fishing community of about three hundred.

Castle Crimson. Continuing south along the Emperor's Road leads to one of the oldest buildings in Ansalon. The blocky Castle Crimson takes its name from its spires of red stone, imported from the Khalkist Mountains. From the road, one can see the castle sitting upon a hill that rises sharply from the surrounding plains. However, as invaders discover, the hill itself is part of the fortress, covered with traps and hidden arrow slits and doors that defenders can fire through or emerge from without warning.

Built around 2300PC, the castle was a gift to a human noblewoman from her noble dwarf husband. Unfortunately, the relationship ended in embarrassment when she gave birth to twin gully dwarves (the reason why so few dwarf-human pairings last).

The Lord of Castle Crimson, who tradilionally occupies a seat in the imperial Senate, is the head of the Shadowlark family, half-elves of Qualinesti stock. They make bards, guild thieves, and Qualinesti refugees welcome in their home, but seem to have a strange disdain for anything Solamnic.

Lancton. In sight of Castle Crimson stands the fortified city of Lancton. The city was founded in 1940PC as a combination toll station, guard post, and caravan stop at the only fordable section of the Dermount River. However, the completion of the Quevalin Bridge in 93()pc removed the need for the city's garrison function, as caravans were no longer as easy to ambush.

Today, Lancton remains a trade hub. The section of the river between it and the capital serves as a portion of the Kmperor's Road. An extension of this road allows traders to rapidly carry ore from the mines of Werim to the south to Lancton, and from there to Gulfport and Gwynned. Almost daily, oxen trod the well-worn riverside paths to draw loaded barges along the waterway.

Even more important than its trade status is Lancton's significance as the source of the finest Ergothian art, music, and songwriting. Graduates of the empire's Bard College, located here, are known throughout the continent for their famous works celebrating the Heroes of the Lance and other great figures in Ansalon's history. The renowned elf bard Quevalin Soth (Qualinesti elder male, artistic demeanor, Legend) attended and graduated from the school and currently serves as its headmaster.

Lancton is also the acknowledged headquarters of the Ergothian thief guilds - which causes many people to doubt the story, for why would a semi-secret organization like the guilds make known the location of their headquarters? Nonetheless, someone looking to make contact with the guild ought to start in Lancton, specifically at a tavern called "The Emperor's Clothier."

Werim. From Lancton, travelers can follow the Emperor's Road south to Werim, the largest mining town of Northern Ergoth. To save their own lives during the Shadow Years following the first Cataclysm, Werim's village elders legally gave up their children and their descendants to an invading warlord. Even now, everyone born in Werim is still considered a slave, the property of the local lord.

For centuries, the folk of Werim have fed the glory of local tyrants. The current lord is Governor Seta Eyt (human adult male, cruel demeanor, Adventurer) a harsh and greedy man. The Thief Guild has long targeted this unfit ruler, but his alliance with the cunning Li tribe, a group of disaffected Ackalite barbarians who act as his bodyguards, has kept Eyt alive through seven assassination attempts.

Gwynned. Downriver from Lancton lies Gwynned, the city that became the imperial capital when the old capital, Daltigoth (in Southern Ergoth), fell to ruin and ogres after the Cataclysm.

Seaside Gwynned had been a favorite summer retreat of emperors since the Quivalin dynasty. It featured a palace, although less glorious than the Golden Palace of Daltigoth, suitable accommodations for the Senate, gladiatorial arenas, opera houses, the Imperial University, and many other basic amenities for the life of an emperor. Redic I established his capital here and renamed the town Gwynned to evoke the memory of that extinguished imperial line and give his own reign an air of legitimacy (see "History").

Since then, emperors have expanded Gwynned's defenses and harbor several times, helping the city evolve into a cosmopolitan den of inequity. A visitor can find any service here - as well as any pleasure. The bouts in the local gladiatorial arena enjoy a place among the strangest and bloodiest in the empire. (Citizens still talk about the fight between a lightning-breathing behir and five condemned criminals dressed in full plate mail and armed with steel rods.)

Landfall. Northwest of Gwynned stands a coastal fortification built around an ancient tower of gnomish origin. Tra- dition holds that this tower marked the spot where the gnomes reached mainland Ansalon during their quest for the Graygem in the Age of Dreams. Landfall takes its name from that myth. While the tower still holds the gears, levers, and other odd manifestations of gnomish technology, the salty dampness of the ocean has long since fused the metal into an unworkable mass.

In 1770PC, after the Solamnians had established their presence on Sancrist, the Ergothians turned the gnomish tower into a sprawling fortification - just in case Solamnus intended to use Sancrist as a staging area for invasion. Today, the empire maintains the fortress as a last-ditch defense. Not only did it stand throughout the Ackalite invasion immediately following the Cataclysm, it contributed to the eventual defeat of these rebels at the hands of Redic I.

Thonvil. Almost due south of Gwynned, on the island's southern coast, is Thonvil. This relatively unremarkable fishing village plays host to the "Wooden Weapons Annual," a non-lethal version of the gladiatorial bouts held in other towns.

A popular local story claims the infamous Dragon Highlord Kitiara uth Matar attended the Annual and took the championship when she was but a strip of a lass (naturally, Ergoth's male-dominated society forced her to disguise herself as a boy). Supposedly she returned to the Annual every few years, always disguised as a man and always walking away with the championship and the purse of gold that came with it. Even after her death, the legend goes, she continues to attend the Wooden Weapons Annual on occasion. If her spirit shows itself to a contestant, he can be almost certain to win - or he can be certain to lose.

Almost without exception, however, historians of the War of Lance agree that the Blue Lady never visited Northern Ergoth. In fact, her own diaries indicate that she regularly competed in the Wooden Weapons Annual in the town ofVocalion on Southern Ergoth, a site now buried beneath Gellidus's glacier. Still, the insistence of Thonvil's populace makes some scholars grant a grain of truth to the tales of the spirit, though no educated man thinks the ghost is that of the long-dead Highlord.

Attendance at the Wooden Weapons Annual has tripled in the past few years, as Solamnian refugees find it reminiscent of their honorable tournaments from back home. Of course, the influx of newcomers is altering some of the myths surrounding the Annual. For example, a version of the legend of the Highlord now circulating claims the ghost shows itself only to braggarts who will lose the competition.

The Solamnian South. The southern portion of Ergoth proper is the area most heavily settled by Solamnian refugees. The farming community of New Winterholm, the largest settlement there, got its start thanks to a land grant to Sir Wilhelm Tankreed (human adult male, honorable demeanor, Champion). As Khellendros descended upon northern Solamnia, this lord fled with the peasant population for whom he felt responsible.

Throughout the Solamnian South, the immigrants have settled in fairly well, but a few cultural difficulties seem inevitable. First, farmers and herders on the Sikk'et Hul border have a difficult time seeing the goblins of that province as peaceful neighbors (see page 81). The same holds true for the Solamnian fishermen. Border attacks by land and sea have increased on both sides, as the newcomers "defend themselves" and the goblins' patience wears thin.

Second, Solamnians entering into military service to the empire have a hard time adjusting to the Ergothian mentality. For instance, a Solamnian named Brevin Gantalian (human young adult male, modest demeanor, Adventurer) who helped uncover a plot to kidnap the emperor's son was awarded the command of Hillfort, a fortress originally built to guard a nearby mine and the Emperor's Road. The new commander appointed Maria uth Furstan (human adult female, honest demeanor, Adventurer), a female Solamnic Knight, us his second-in-command - which many Ergothian warriors viewed as a personal insult. Further, he has launched expeditions into neighboring Sikk'et Hul to "keep the provincial borders safe." Although such a move would seem reasonable along the Gaardlund-Throtl frontier in his native land, in Northern Ergoth it disrupts a centuries-old peace.

Major Ruins

Ogre ruins pepper the Sentinel Mountains along the Hylo-Ergoth border. Most have been thoroughly explored at the urging of the cash-strapped empire, though goblin scouts and adventurers do occasionally find new sites.

Wind Dancer. One of Northern Ergoth's more mysterious structures, the Wind Dancer ruins appear virtually inaccessible to anyone without flight. The few who have reached this ancient Kyrie dwelling describe it as a bewildering complex of hallways, staircases, identical rooms, and open courtyards. The only damage to the structure seems to have been wrought by the passage of time. It looks as though every resident simply vanished. The empire encourages expeditions to the Wind Dancer peaks, hoping to solve this mystery as well as claim any treasure hidden within.

Even. Unlike the Wind Dancer site, the fate of the ruined town of Even holds little mystery. In the decades after the Cataclysm, rampaging Ackalites razed this town - once a supplier of delicacies like caviar and honey-baked fish filets to Gwynned and other northern cities - and slaughtered every citizen. All attempts to resettle the town (or loot whatever the Ackalites missed) have failed: The ghosts of dozens of murdered citizens haunt the area still.

Mystic Places

A site not traditionally associated with mystical occurrences in Ergoth proper it the abandoned hulk of Castle DiThon near Thonvil, once home to an ancient and noble family.

The last member of this line, the White-Robed Wizard Bram DiThon, vanished during the Chaos War. Ever since, locals have claimed that fairy folk inhabit the grounds and spirits haunt the castle itself. All who attempt to investigate the place have vanished without a trace, just as Bram DiThon did. (The Defenders of Magic novel trilogy recounts Bram's earlier adventures.)

Main Populace

Native Ergothians are humans with dark skin and black hair. They typically have brown eyes, but occasionally a child is born with startling bright blue eyes. A growing Solamnian human minority also calls Ergoth proper home. This population has fairer skin, hair ranging from honey-colored to black, and eyes of blue, brown, or green. Children of mixed parentage invariably favor their Ergothian blood in appearance.

Local languages include Ergot, Kenderspeak (thanks to visitors from neighboring Hylo), and Solamnic.

Description

Ergothians like every aspect of their lives highly structured and regimented. These people believe in order and will fight to destroy any threat to their established lifestyle. History has shown that this battle urge generally breeds only more chaos, but it has become so ingrained in the Ergothian nature that everyone tends to overlook this fact. The rigidity of this society is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that the realm still clings to its traditional governmental structure - a Senate overseen by an emperor - even though for centuries the "empire" has been smaller than a Solamnian province.

Ergothians also consider an individual born to his station in life and believe it his responsibility to fulfill the duties of that station. When someone fails to live up to his responsibilities, it is traditional for another of equal or slightly lower status to assume them instead. This custom has led to periods of numerous successive coups and assassinations of emperors.

Ergoth is a highly feudal society. The rich and powerful own the land, and peasants work it in exchange for the roof over their heads and a small amount of the food they grow or the livestock they tend. The empire is also heavily patriarchal, a cultural point that causes conflict with the refugees from Solamnia, which has granted increased status and opportunity for women for decades. Virtually since the founding of the empire, Ergothians have believed that women belonged at home, raising children and tending to the needs of their husbands and families.

Any woman unhappy with this existence generally leaves Ergoth proper, as a variety of laws restrict her ability to hold property or to profit as an adventurer, warrior, or in any other traditionally "male" field. Unless she passes herself off as a man, a woman who is not a matron can work as either a serving wench, maid, street dancer, or at an occupation of even lower standing. A very few women become bards, but they usually start out as street performers "discovered" by an established and respected male bard.

Women are not the only Ergothians legislated into particular roles, although they certainly take the brunt of it. The empire has laws that apply to virtually every other person, too. Each citizen has his place in the world - and it's important to society that he stay there.

This view (aided by a large national ego) has caused the Ergothians to retain both emperor and Senate past the point where they are really needed. These people genuinely believe their empire will rise again, as it is Ergoth's duty to be first among nations. Ergoth - never Istar or Solamnia - is the center of culture, arts, and human civilization on Krynn. For centuries, emperors, nobles, and scholars have tried to recapture that lost glory. It seems that the devastation of the Dragon Purge, which brought low so many other realms, was just the catalyst Ergoth needed.

Culture

The influx of refugees from Solamnia has provided Ergoth with a much-needed population boost. The fresh infusion of new creative expression - in the form of Solamnian tapestries and sculpture - has touched off something of an artistic renaissance. The one medium in which the Ergothians remain unmatched is epic verse and music composition.

While elves may produce the best instruments in Ansalon, none can match the skill of an Ergothian bard when it comes to penning new works. Unlike the flowing nature of elven music, which relies heavily upon improvisation, local bards compose highly structured and measured music. Lyrics, though less rigid, also follow specific formats. (However, the Bard College in Lancton identifies over three hundred verse formats, so only the most discerning listeners can recognize that bards work within set parameters.) Throughout Ergoth proper, commoner and noble alike love music and verse.

In stark contrast, Ergothians are equally fond of bloodsports. Virtually every settlement has some kind of gladiatorial arena: from simple pits in small villages to the vast sprawling stadium of Gwynned. Locals flock to these arenas to watch man fighting beast or man fighting man. The purpose of these bouts ranges from settling scores or punishing criminals to just plain having fun (such as Thonvil's Wooden Weapons Annual). Gladiatorial combats represent to Ergothians what county fairs mean to the rest of Ansalon. Bards or dancers usually perform between each combat.

Trade

The empire exports copper, brass, and steel tools and weapons; ogre relics; and cut stone to nearby Gunthar on the isle of Sancrist and to Coasdund in the realm of Khellendros. In return, Ergoth imports precious metals from Gunthar, carved wooden figures and cut wood from Kenderhome, and fruits and leather from dragon-occupied Qualinesti.

The rapidly growing city of Gwynned has seen increased trade of late, thinks to Solamnian immigration.

History

The earliest history of Ergoth remains all but lost to the mists of time, little more than a collection of legends in an ancient tome called History of the World. The title of this work is highly misleading - "the world" of the unknown authors extended no farther cast than the Khalkist Mountains and the Silvanesti forest. Yet enough of the lore corresponds with tales collected by scholars in Palanthas that one can glean some facts from it.

Although the History of the World includes no dates, loremasters have correlated events with the Iconochronos of the historian Astinus. For simplicity's sake, this section uses the method of reckoning common among historians in the Fifth Age (Pre Cataclius, Alt Cataclius, and Saer Cataclius).

The Formation of Empire

History of the World tells of an adventuresome youth named Ackal Ergot, who reportedly slew an entire tribe of bakali - a lost race of lizard men - because if they had captured him, he would have missed the celebration of his fourteenth birthday and his ascension rite to adulthood.

Ackal Ergot was born around 2650PC in the village of Sanction, far from the lands that today take his name. Many of his youthful exploits in the aftermath of the Second Dragon War appear in the History of the World, including his journey to the Sentinel Mountains, where he became the first human in fifteen centuries to venture into an ogre city. There he encountered vast treasures and the mystical artifact known as the World's Heart. A vision came upon him then - a vision that would drive him to forge the barbaric human tribes into a mighty empire.

Upon returning to Sanction, he led expeditions into the ruins of the ogre cities in the Khalkist Mountains. With the wealth gained from these forays, he began bribing tribal chieftains for their loyalty. Those who could not be bought, he exterminated with sword and flame. By 2600PC, Ackal Ergot had united all the human tribes from the Khalkist Mountains to the far western edge ofAnsalon. On his seventieth birthday, he declared Daltigoth, the former stronghold of a particularly powerful tribal chieftain, the capital of the Empire of Ergoth and commanded scribes to pen the History of the World.

Five years later, as his armies pressed into the southern lands where the remaining free human tribes had banded together under the woman warrior known as Kharolis, Ackal Ergot fell down a flight of stairs in the newly completed Golden Palace and died. (The History of the World claims he was pushed by assassins, but the Iconochronos implies that the self-made emperor tripped on his own cape while in a drunken stupor.)

Growing Pains

For the next century, the empire teetered on the brink of disaster. Ackal's sons proved stupid, petty, and self-centered. One by one, they ascended to the throne and assassinated each other. (For example, the only official act taken by Ackal II before his death was to require imperial permission to explore ogre ruins; see the thief guilds sidebar on page 12.) The last of Ergot's sons was assassinated by his own daughter when he tried to make slaves of all who dwelled west of the southern Sentinel Mountains. (He planned to set them to work carving the tallest peak into his own likeness.) When the young woman attempted to claim the throne, she was slain by angry priests and warriors who, thanks to their experience with Kharolis in the south, believed that female rulers could only lead the empire to ruin.

With the end of the Ergot line, the Quivalin line ascended to the throne and proceeded to rule ineffectively. For the next several decades Ergothian warlords fought among themselves, each believing himself worthy of the throne. During this quick succession of four Quivalin emperors, some managed to expand the borders slightly - Ergoth's frontier now reached the border of Silvanesti in the east and the very northern tip of the Sentinel Mountains in the west. However, this expansion could not equal the growth achieved under Ackal. The empire grew into a brutal, bestial realm ruled by tyrants consumed by their egos and lack of vision.

Although the History of the World ends with the beginning of this period, the Iconochronos and recent Ergothian history texts provide further details.

Ergoth Rising

In 2480PC, the warlord Ackal Dermount claimed the throne. He had long considered war - internal and external - detrimental to the empire's welfare. Upon destroying the last of his opponents, Emperor Ackal IV set aside the sword of Ergot and began trade with the Silvanesti elves in the east and the fledgling kender nation of Hylo in the north.

Peace reigned for more than one hundred years, throughout the rule of Ackal IV and his successors Ackal V and Ackal VI. Humans and elves intermarried, and the first half-elves became assimilated into the empire. Humans and dwarves also intermarried. However, historians indicate that, unlike half-elves, who seemed a product of the best that the human and elf races had to offer, the offspring of human and dwarf unions were ugly, simpleminded creatures fit for little more than removing garbage or cleaning stables. New laws forbade dwarf-human interbreeding and marriages, and the unfortunate products of these unions - called "dirt eaters," "muckers," or "dump men" - found themselves cast out of Ergothian settlements. Most historians consider these creatures the first gully dwarves (or Aghar, as they have christened themselves).

Ackal Dermount's grandson, Ackal VII, ascended to the throne in 2240PC. In 2200PC he declared Hylo a vassal state of Ergoth. During the reign of Ackul VII, stories of human-kender marriages arc common (including a few involving the emperor supposedly having a kender wife). However, most serious historians consider these merely tales of political satire spawned by the fact that the emperor never quite got the kender to understand the concept of paying taxes and providing troops for the Ergothian army. Tax collectors in Hylo had to contend with curved wooden figurines and polished rocks, while military officers found themselves commanding bands of kender ready to go explore the empire.

Troubled Times

The reign of Ackal VII is marked by increasing tension among humans, elves, and dwarves. After his death, the young Emperor Quivalin V ascended to the throne - Ackal's wife was barren, so he had named a member of the Quivalin line his successor. Three months later, rising racial tensions exploded when human hunters accidentally slew the Silvanesti ruler, Sithel.

Suspecting the death was no accident, Sithel's older son, Sithas, declared war on Ergoth. This campaign, dubbed the Kinslayer War by historians, lasted more than fifty years. The legendary imaging wizard General Giarna commanded the empire's legions, while Kith-Kanan, twin brother of Sithas, led the elf armies.

Only the first five years of the war taw any loss or gain of territory; the Kit devolved into a long, bloody stalemate. The final battle of the war claimed the life of Giarna, the human wife and half-elf children of Kith-Kanan, and thousands upon thousands of elves and humans. Kith-Kanan negotiated a truce with Emperor Quivalin V. Soon after, western Silvanesti declared its independence, becoming a land where elves, half-elves, and humans Could live together in peace.

In the years following the Kinslayer War, the empire found itself at odds with its dwarf neighbors. The governor of the southeastern province authorized his people to begin mining in the Kharolis Mountains near Thorbardin. A border dispute arose: The dwarves claimed the mountains as their territory, while the governor, backed by the Imperial Court, held that they had no claim on the mountains. After all, Thorbardin had been built only thanks to the empire's generosity in permitting the dwarves access to their mountains.

By 2128PC, negotiations had ended. The dwarves ceased trading with Ergoth and began harassing the miners, as well as caravans heading to western Silvanesti. When Quivalin VI assumed the throne in 2120PC, skirmishes between dwarf warriors and Ergothian border patrols were the order of the day. With Quivalin VII's ascension at the age of thirteen in 2075PC, a full-blown war raged in the Kharolis Mountains, with the settlers in western Silvanesti caught in the middle.

Young Quivalin VII summoned Kith-Kanan to Daltigoth, and the elf leader set about negotiating a truce between the warring factions, just as he had for the emperor's grandfather. In 2073PC, Kith-Kanan engineered a peace treaty between elves, dwarves, and Ergoth. His new elf nation of Qualinesti would serve as a buffer state between Ergoth and Thorbardin. The humans stopped mining the Kharolis Mountains and the dwarves lifted their ban on trade. Further, the dwarves forged a replica of the Hammer of Reorx and presented it to the Ergothian emperor as a peace offering.

During peace negotiations, the wise young ruler made a show of breaking with the past by changing his name; thereafter, emperors of his line would be called "Quevalin." He also began a tradition of passing the gift of the dwarven hammer from nation to nation on an annual basis, to reinforce the spirit of the treaty known as the Swordsheath Scroll.

Golden Years

With Quevalin VII's reign, the empire entered a cultural golden age. All the classic forms of Ergothian song, music, and poetry appeared in their early stages between 2080PC and 1900PC. Quevalin VII took steps to encourage and preserve the performing arts by founding the Bard College of Lancton. His son, Quevalin VIII, established the Imperial University in Gwynned and also began assembling a large library of literature and history from all the races of the world. For the first time, an emperor encouraged sanctioned looters to retrieve something other than gold from ogre ruins. At the time of his death in 1997PC, Quevalin VIII worked personally to translate ogre texts into Ergot. Sadly, his work, as well as the original ogre tablets, has been lost.

Ergothians remember Quevalin IX as the emperor who created the Senate, a body to which nobles and wealthy citizens from across the empire could elect representatives. The Senate's primary duties involved advising the emperor, supervising the army, funding large construction projects, and ensuring that capable and fair governors ruled in the many provinces of Ergoth.

Some of the light of this golden age shone on Ergoth's neighbors as well. Dwarven and elven culture prospered during these years, and in 2000PC, Kith- Kanan urged further steps to reinforce the idea of peace in the minds of generations to come. Dwarves, humans, and elves came together to build the fortress of Pax Tharkas (an elven name that means "peace among friends"). Kith-Kanan and Quevalin X both died during the monument's construction, and both were laid to rest in secret tombs within the mighty fortress.

Quevalin XI took the throne in 1905PC, five years before the completion of Pax Tharkas. A wizard of the White Robes, this emperor began ambitious expansion projects of Daltigoth's Tower of High Sorcery and of the library his great-grandfather had built. He also attempted to alter the line of succession. For centuries, the throne had passed from father to son and, in the case of a childless emperor, to a brother, the brother's son, a male cousin or nephew, and then to any other male blood relative. Quevalin XI sought to require that the emperor also belong to the brotherhood of wizards before he could take the throne.

This attempt not only frightened potential Quevalin heirs with no talent for the arcane arts, it also disturbed and angered warlords and nobles who suspected that the emperor ultimately hoped to elevate sorcerers to an elite status above all others in the empire. In 1900PC. General Macqui Hellman, commander of the Imperial Guard, led a military coup that ended the Quevalin dynasty and placed him on the throne. Depending on which text one chooses to believe, Macqui Hellmann was either a patriot who believed he was doing the best thing for his country or a sadistic madman whose hunger for power and personal glory set the empire on the road to ruin.

Sundering of Empire

Either way, Hellmann's coup marked the end of just rulership in the empire. The usurper became the first in a line of brutal, exploitive emperors, most of whom appear to have been driven from their thrones by assassins or court intrigue. Taxes grew ever more unreasonable, as petty tyrant after petty tyrant built elaborate monuments to himself and increasingly corrupt regional governors lined their deepening pockets. The throne exploited the resources and riches of the northern and eastern provinces. The laws against looting ogre ruins without imperial permission grew even harsher: anyone caught near an ogre city without the proper papers would be killed on sight.

Throughout the reign of Hellmann's successors, the Quisling emperors, small rebellions arose in the north. The Quislings were also known to disregard the Swordsheath Scroll when it served their purposes. Imperial legions swiftly crushed all resistance, however. During this time, the thief guilds grew stronger and more powerful in most

Ergothian cities, struggling to break the empire's ever-tightening grip on the throat of its people.

In 1812PC, Emperor Emann Quisling appointed the distinguished and skilled commander Vinas Solamnus to position of praetor, the highest military office in the empire. From the moment he saved the emperor from assassinaion on his wedding day, Solamnus had carned the respect of both the empire's military and political leaders. However, he had a reputation of being somewhat naive when it came to politics. Quisling hoped to manipulate Solamnus and control those who admired him.

Solamnus served Quisling loyally lor eleven years. His most notable achievements during this time include:

- Leading the force that in 1808PC destroyed a band of half-elf cutthroats that had been attacking and looting caravans around Caergoth;
- Risking life and limb when, in 1804PC, crazed priests of Takhisis abducted Quisling's sister. With the aid of a band of adventurers (including a mage named Fistandantilus), Solamnus saved the royal lady from being thrown into Raekel's Pit to complete some dark ritual (the pit is described in "Sikk'et Hul Province").

However, in 1801 PC, events were set in motion that would forever turn Solamnus away from the empire he had devoted his life to defend.

The peasant revolts that came to be known as the Solanthian Troubles took place in the empire's northeastern provinces surrounding Vingaard and Solanthus in the spring of 1801 PC. Local outpost commanders could not contain the rebels, so Solamnus was sent with a large body of troops to quell the rebellion personally.

The insurrectionists and their peasant army were no match for a skilled commander like Solamnus, so initial victories came swiftly - yet they yielded no results. Solamnus's army slaughtered hundreds of peasants, armed with pitchforks and stolen swords they hardly knew how to use. In an effort to avoid an endless string of massacres, Solamnus visited the rebel headquarters at Vingaard Keep under flag of truce. There he learned the truth: The empire had provoked the Vingaard Uprising and the other recent revolts through repressive treatment of its citizens.

In a period that historians refer to as "The Year of Waiting," Solamnus reviewed the details of the peasants' cause, all the while doing what he could to ease their plight. He did his best to stall the emperor's inquiries of progress and diverted the attentions of couriers from Daltigoth who came to check on his status. However, in 1798pc, Solamnus learned that the emperor had refused his request for permanent assignment to Vingaard and planned to send his grand-nephew to take over the post. The time had come to act. In a stirring speech, the praetor announced his intention to lead the rebellion against the empire and inspired most of his army to do the same. Those who would not join him, he allowed to leave.

The provinces of northern Ergoth rallied to Solamnus's banner, and the peasants trained in the ways of soldiering. Nonetheless, Solamnus knew his forces were not ready to take on the imperial legions that would be sent to relieve him of command once his former followers told the emperor of the events at Vingaard. Rather than rush forward with poorly trained troops, Solamnus's army fought to keep the legions from gaining too much strength in the north, while the peasant forces grew in size and competence.

By early 1794PC, Solamnus declared his forces ready to go on the offensive. For three years, they fought in northern Ergoth, primarily on the plains between Vingaard and Thelgaard. None of the emperor's commanders had Solamnus's command of tactics, sense of purpose, or skill in oratory. Historians estimate that Solamnus caused as many legions to join his "Rose Rebellion" as he defeated on the battlefields. Even troops from other Swordsheath nations joined his army.

In 1792PC, Vinas Solamnus's Swordsheath Army marched on Daltigoth. With skill and daring, he evaded or defeated Ergoth's remaining legions. As winter was about to set in, he laid siege to the imperial capital itself. However, a foul trick lured Solamnus into the city and, victim of a ruse, he accidentally killed the empress. He was captured and sentenced to die in midwinter. However, on the day of his hanging, local peasants loyal to Solamnus helped his army breach the city walls, rescue the praetor, and take the capital. Quisling fled.

By early spring. Emperor Quisling surrendered, agreeing to permit provinces unhappy with imperial rule to forge their own nations. Many western provinces, close to Daltigoth, remained loyal to the empire. Most northeastern provinces and Hylo asserted their independence. The human nations declared Solamnus their lord, and he signed the Swordsheath Scroll on their behalf.

A New Era

Ergoth's time as the dominant nation of the world had come to an end. As the new realms in the north and east grew strong and prospered, Ergoth foundered under a string of incompetent, corrupt, and even insane emperors. The thief guilds began to emerge as a major force in many Ergothian cities. By 1480PC, the nation of Solamnia had replaced Ergoth as Ansalon's major military power, while Istar, a dynamic union of city-states beyond the Khalkist Mountains, had become the center of trade.

With increasing trade competition from Istar, Emperor Theolonius Lekaer II renewed the Swordsheath Scroll in an elaborate ceremony with the rulers of Qualinesti and Thorbardin in 1234PC. The three nations prospered through trade and cultural exchanges once again, and the Lekaers became the first dynasty since the fall of the Quevalin line almost seven hundred years prior. However, this relatively brief period of prosperity came to an end when Ergoth became one of the primary battlegrounds for the Third Dragon War.

In 1060PC, plots by the Dark Queen came to fruition, and hundreds of dragons filled the skies of Ansalon, ravaging cities and sweeping smaller realms from the map. Emperor Lekaer IV marshalled what forces he could, but even Solamnia could not withstand the onslaught of the dragons. For four decades, the Evil wyrms wreaked havoc upon the land. The faith of the Ergothians in their emperor and in the gods began to fade as nothing seemed able to stop the dragons.

It was Lekaer IV and his primary magical adviser and instructor, Fistandantilus (an apprentice of Giarna from the Kinslayer War, well-versed in matters of war as well as immortality) who spurred the Orders of High Sorcery to create mighty magical weapons to use against the dragons. The wizards met at the Tower of High Sorcery in Palanthas and created the fabled Dragon Orbs.

In the end, the war was won by a single man: A young Solamnic Knight named Huma Dragonbane personally confronted and defeated Takhisis, forcing her to take her dragons from the world once again. Although the records from most realms during this time are spotty or confused, most historians agree that Huma's legendary battle took place in 1018PC.

The Road to Cataclysm

Ergoth was slow to rebuild after the Third Dragon War. Other nations eagerly accepted aid from the growing realm of Istar, but Lekaer V and his successors forever hoped to return their empire to the glory days it had once known without any such charity. In 947pc, shortly after ascending to the throne, Lekaer VII wrote, "Istar comes with smiles and open purses. But under her robes she hides poisoned daggers, which she will drive into the hearts of those who will not accept her overtures. Such is not friendship, but the relation of a would-be slavemaster to property. Ergoth, the mightiest nation in Ansalon, will never be the slave of merchants who want to be kings."

Lekaer's words angered many of Ansalon's rulers, but a century later his words appeared prophetic. In 850PC, Istar began imposing and aggressively enforcing trade standards upon all other realms. By 673PC, when Istar attempted to gain exclusive control over trade lanes and key ports - including many Silvanesti and Ergothian cities - the trade capital began waging open war against the empire and the elf kingdom. Ergothian war galleys attacked Istaran privateers and merchant vessels, while the elven fleet blockaded Istar's harbor, preventing all vessels from entering or leaving.

When Istar appealed to Solamnia for aid, the militaristic realm convinced the signers of the Swordsheath Scroll to let Istar add its name. The mercantile realm proceeded to sign additional treaties with the kender and dwarves. Increasingly over the next years, Istar became the dictator of Swordsheath Scroll nations and policies. Soon every realm in Ansalon had signed it and, by the middle of the fourth century PC, the Swordsheath Scroll also had become known as the Istaran Greatmeld. Ergoth and Silvanesti were the only two nations who had refused to join. Although the Imperial Court maintained cordial relations with Istar, Ergoth traded only with Silvanesti and Thorbardin.

In 280PC, however, even cordial relations ceased. That year, Istar declared itself the moral center of the world and installed its first Kingpriest. The move outraged Ergothian priests and offended Emperor Gwynned II of the dynasty that followed the Lekaer emperors. He issued a proclamation that no one realm could be considered the moral center of the world, since that center existed with the gods, not with man. However, when Solamnia swiftly applauded the effort, Ergoth severed all relations with Istar.

Over the next two centuries, Istar became more corrupt with power than the empire had been at its worst. Militaristic Solamnia served as Istar's primary fighting force, most of the Knights believing the Kingpriest a supreme agent of Good. Only Ergoth's priests continued to speak out against the Kingpriest, and their voices were weakening: Istaran religion had taken hold even in Ergoth. People were shifting away from the traditional view that each individual enjoyed a personal relationship with his god of choice, facilitated by priests. Instead, they began to see the Kingpriest of Istar as the only true source of divine knowledge from gods too distant to worry about each individual on Krynn.

A succession of Kingpriests continued to pass increasingly harsh, restrictive edicts. With the Proclamation of Manifest Virtue in 118pc, Istar asserted its moral outlook upon all of Ansalon with a list of "evils." One of those evils was directed squarely at the Emperor of Ergoth: "It is a sin to adopt a title more grand than 'king.' Paladine is the Emperor of Dragons, and any who would adopt a similar title do belittle him."

Gwynned V issued a proclamation of his own: The Istaran document held no meaning to Ergothian citizens. In the empire, it stated, only the gods can truly judge virtue. Still, the Kingpriest continued to gain followers, even in Ergoth.

Then, after almost a thousand years of ceaseless decline, Ergoth saw a rise in both cultural activity and religious fervor. In 39PC, the empire's priests - of Good, Evil, and Neutral gods - received visions that the mighty Istar would fall due to the corruption of the Kingpriest. They began speaking this prophecy, ignoring Istaran and Solamnian threats to punish them for such heresy. Their sermons boosted national pride throughout the empire and filled the temples like they hadn't been since Solamnia split from the empire. New works of art centered not around emperors and governors but instead around the glorious achievements of Ergoth's people. Some provinces that had declared independence, like the region that would become Ackal, even rejoined the empire.

Meanwhile, Istar declared wizardry Evil and attempted to disband the Orders of High Sorcery. When the actions of the Kingpriest's followers in Daltigoth resulted in the destruction of the Tower of High Sorcery there (and the neighborhoods around it) in 19PC, local religious fervor rose to a fanatical level. Gwynned VI fanned the fires. The corrupt ruler of Istar had declared war upon Ergoth, he said, and now Ergoth would strike back!

Weakened by Solamnian and Istaran trade sanctions, however, the empire's "war" amounted to only a few skirmishes at first. Meanwhile, the Kingpriest in distant Istar proclaimed Emperor Gwynned VI an agent of Evil. However, increasing armed resistance by goblins, minotaurs, elves, kender, and other races declared Evil by the Proclamation of Manifest Virtue kept Istar's forces too busy in the East to act on the pronouncement. Even the Solamnic Knights began to feel disenchanted with Istar's oppressive edicts.

Gradually, Gwynned VI built an army large enough to strike against Solamnia, and from there against Istar itself. By 8PC, the border skirmishes had erupted into full-fledged warfare. By IPC, the Ergothian army had laid siege to Thelgaard and Solanthus in the north, while combined human and dwarf forces occupied Xak Tsaroth in the south, preparing a push toward the Khalkist Mountains.

But then Gwynned VI died sud- denly while his son, Gwynned VII, was barely in his teens. This gentle soul despised war and harbored deep-seated superstitions. He also feared the power of the Kingpriest so, even as his armies made ready to press toward victory, Gwynned VII ordered a halt.

Less than one month later, the Cataclysm struck. Thousands of Ergothians died, including Gwynned VII and most of the imperial legions, as the empire was ripped from mainland Ansalon.

Tidal waves swept across the plains where Ergoth's armies battled the Solamnians, drowning troops and cities in what became the Straits of Algoni and the New Sea.

Post-Cataclysm Ergoth

The centuries after the Cataclysm saw Ergoth finally die as an empire, though the emperor remains. The current Redic dynasty succeeded a series of petty despots who attempted to claim the trone during the Shadow Years. These rulers have tried valiantly to pull Ergoth together as a nation, but the dragon-armies, internal divisions (see the "Ackal Province" section), and the presence of ogres and other races on the islands that once made up the empire have rendered their efforts fruitless.

During the War of the Lance, Emperor Mercadior Redic V lent most of the empire's standing army to the assault on Neraka. Yet even that laudable effort did not bring the attention of the world back to Ergoth.

Ergoth escaped the Summer of Chaos and the Dragon Purge virtually untouched. The strength and fierce pride of the Ergothians staved off Dark Knight attacks in Ergoth proper, while goblins repelled an attempted landing by the Knights of Takhisis in the southern province of Sikk'et Hul.

Today, many Ergothians think their current Emperor Redic VI has more or less handed the empire over to the Solamnians. They applaud the magnanimous gesture of allowing refugees from the Blue Dragon's realm to settle in Northern Ergoth's hinterlands, and they know the influx of settlers has given the empire a much-needed population boost. However, they find it disturbing that the Knights of Solamnia, with their tradition of short-sightedness and siding with Ergoth's enemies, now outnumber imperial legions in military strength.

Nonetheless, most Ergothians feel that the events of the last few decades have set the stage for their empire's return to Krynn's center stage. Today, Northern Ergoth remains the only land not ravaged by the Great Dragons or the Knights of Takhisis. And with the relocation of some scholars from the Great Library and the university in Palanthas, the empire has regained its place as Ansalon's cultural capital.

Current Happenings

Emperor Mercadior Redic VI (human adult male, kind demeanor, Champion) works today to engineer Ergoth's rise from the ashes.

Politics

Ergoth is ruled by a dynastic emperor. A Senate comprised of wealthy landowners, merchants, and nobles advises him, but the emperor remains the ultimate authority in all matters - including appointing and dismissing members of the thirty-nine-seat Senate.

Today Redic VI presides over an Ergoth with a changing political face. The Solamnic Knights that have relocated to Ergoth proper form a strong deterrent against Dark Knight invasion attempts. However, rumors hold that Redic VI has tried to push Solamnic leaders on Sancrist to commit their support to aggressive action as well. Redic VI also seeks to bring the provinces of Ackal and Sikk'et Hul more firmly under his control. So far, the Knights have not stated whether they wish to involve themselves in such ventures, but they have appeared at more and more Senate meetings of late.

One important semiofficial political force in the empire is the thief guilds (see sidebar on page 12). These societies have emerged as guardians against abuse of power in the hands of the ruling class. The guilds don't trust the Solamnic Knights and fear that Redic VI's desire to restore glory to the empire may cause him to cede too much control of Ergoth's destiny to them. In the past, thief guilds have moved against even emperors, and they stand poised to do so again if necessary.

Today in Ergoth

Throughout Ergoth proper, rumors abound of an imminent attack on the unruly northern province of Ackal. Whispered conversations around Gwynned hold that spies, scouts, and assassins have moved into Ackal on a variety of missions. Redic VI's ministers have increased the incentives to explore the ogre ruins in the Sentinel Mountains to search for treasure, apparently seeking to use the empire's cut of any finds to fund a new venture.

On a more academic front, scholars from Ergoth and Solamnia have compared texts from each others' libraries, revealing little-known facts about the conflicts between their nations, the origin of Solamnia, and the founding of the Solamnic orders. In fact, Gwynned tavern tales say that a pair of scholars - a Solamnian named Strom Vintein and an Ergothian named Terras Fellician - recently uncovered forgotten details about Vinas Solamnus's Quest of Honor, which led him to found his Knighthood. The Solamnian reportedly told a friend that what they had uncovered would change the way the world viewed Solamnus and the Knighthood. Before they could reveal any details, however, they vanished with their notes and reference books. Their mutilated bodies were dragged from Gwynned's harbor a few days later, but the books and notes remain missing.

In the interest of maintaining peaceful relations between the Solamnian refugees and native Ergothians, the Solamnic Grand Master and the Ergothian Praetor have offered a joint bounty to learn who killed the scholars and why. Gwynned's Thieves' Guild has also issued a bounty - to recover the missing notes and books. They think these notes hold secrets so awful that the Knights of Solamnia will do anything to suppress them. Thus, if the Thieves' Guild can get that information, they can control the Solamnics.

Actal Province

Most of Ansalon, having only the empire's word on the state of affairs in Northern Ergoth, has no idea of the separatist nature of Ackal province.

This loose federation of barbarian tribes long ago rejected Ergothian civilization and returned to the ways of Ackal Ergot, seeking to regain the power and glory he enjoyed at the dawn of his empire. Each of the nine families that led the initial departure four hundred years ago gave its name to a tribe. Today, three tribes have left Northern Ergoth to settle elsewhere and two have departed Ackal. The remaining tribes of Brindal, Karthan, Tran, and Vakt look to the leadership of their overchief rather than any emperor and fiercely patrol their province, killing any outsider who violates their territory.

Important Holdings

Wild Ackal, in the northern region of the island, has no capital city. Instead, each of the province's four major tribes takes a small stronghold as its seat of power. These holdings consist of a keep belonging to the chief and a village built around it which, in turn, is encircled by stone walls and moats. These structures, built in the first and second centuries after the Cataclysm, have been scrupulously maintained by generations of Ackalites.

While the defenses of Ackal's villages remain as sound as the day they were built, most of them could not withstand a concerted assault using magic or modern warfare techniques. (The one exception is Ker-Vakt, whose citizens continuously upgrade and expand its defenses due to its position on the border with Ergoth proper.)

Noteworthy Settlements

Unlike most longstanding communities, the villages ofAckal have not grown over the years, instead ranging in size from three hundred to eight hundred. The population has remained more or less constant for the past two centuries, thanks to a number of factors, such as:

- Losing inhabitants who leave to form new tribes;
- The nation's warlike nature; and
- A high infant mortality rate, particularly among baby girls.

Beacon. The most modern settlement in Ackal is Beacon, a lighthouse and fortified port built around 310AC by mariners from Saifhum to reinforce their ties with Ackal. (Saifhum was settled in part by seafaring Ackalites who left Ergoth to seek a home free of imperial threat.) Although far more progressive than their prickly Ackalite cousins, the mariners try to nourish a bond between the two peoples.

The Saifhum settlers sought to use Beacon as a waystation near their Solamnian trading partners, thus allowing them to bypass river pirate tariffs on the Vingaard. However, they quickly tired of the constant arguments with the Ackalites, who insisted on applying their restrictive social codes to Saifhum's women - many of whom captained their own ships.

Now, Beacon serves primarily as a staging point for Ackalite pirate activity, while the lighthouse - featuring a light that, through the wonders of magical technology, cuts through even the thickest fog - serves as a reference point for ship captains attempting to round the island's north tip on the way to the realm of Gunthar at night.

While other settlements consist of a single tribe and chieftain. Beacon is home to about three hundred people from various tribes, all of whom look for leadership to Ackal's overchief, Tambov Reknal (human elder male, vigilant demeanor, Master).

Ker-Brindal. South of Beacon lies Ker-Brindal, a community of some four hundred people. Before traders from Saifhum more or less surrendered Beacon to the Ackalites, Ker-Brindal was one of two main staging areas for pirate activity (Ker-Karthan being the other). These days, Ker-Brindal has become primarily an agricultural village. Surrounding fields reach as far inland as the ruins of Truth, and local herdsmen tend their sheep and horses on the plain between Ker-Brindal and Beacon. Ackalite mystics have learned to make the sandy soil more fertile magically, allowing this region to supply food for the entire province. Sheep provide wool that traders barter to the kender of Hylo for wood.

The Brindal chief, Dal Quenalen (human young adult male, determined demeanor, Adventurer), assumed leadership of his tribe only recently, following the death of his father in an unsuccessful attack on a merchant ship bound for Gunthar. Dal feels very unsatisfied with his tribe's current direction. He doesn't believe his people should be rooting in the dirt or tending animals - they are warriors, and warriors take what they need from the weak. He tried to convince Overchief Tambov Reknal to give his tribe control over Beacon's lighthouse and port, so the Brindals can regain their former warrior status. The overchief refused the request, so Dal intends to challenge him for his position next year.

Ker-Tran. A tribe more than happy to leave the warrior's life behind them is the Tran - although without them, there could be no warfare. In the village of Ker-Tran live the vast majority ofAckal's metalworkers and weaponsmiths. For countless generations - since well before the Cataclysm - Tran ancestors worked as master smiths. Before the rise of the Ackalites, they tended their forges in Truth. However, when the lord of that city refused to bend to the fanatics, they made an example of the town by leveling it. The Ackalites shortly after the Cataclysm thought themselves unstoppable, since they could destroy a city that produced the empire's finest weapons - never mind that most of its citizens were craftsmen and miners, not warriors.

The same holds true of Ker-Tran today - it is a community of craftsmen, who pass their art from father to son. Other chieftains scoff at Chief Oklar Tran (human adult male, resolute demeanor, Champion) and his tribesmen behind their backs for their consistent poor showing during festival tournaments. However, the scoffing goes only so far. Everyone remembers twenty years ago when, to earn respect for his people, Oklar's father halted all mining, let the forges lay idle, and refused to mend armor. Other chiefs launched an armed assault on Ker-Tran, only to find the walls defended by a variety of built-in mechanical traps and defenses - not to mention by the village's men and boys, not as helpless with weapons as other chieftains liked to think. When it mattered, they defended Ker-Tran and their honor with great skill and ferocity.

Afterward, it was three months before Ker-Tran would mine ore or make or repair weapons for anyone but members of their own tribe. Other villages tried to use their own smiths, with less than stellar results. The fact that the Tran tribe controlled the only unspent mine in Ackal made matters even more difficult. Tran's father got the acknowledgment he wanted, and the tribe went back to work. Tran has continued in his father's footsteps, and his people have suffered no open disrespect.

Ker-Karthan. Southeast of Ker-Tran lies coastal Ker-Karthan. In this sea barbarian village, the Ackalites build most of their ships. Locals trade weapons and small metal items for lumber from Kenderhome, then float the logs down the Moon River to Serpent Bay, where the community's master ship builders turn them into some of the finest and fastest sloops Ansalon has ever known. Only the ships of Saifhum can outdistance Ackalite sloops.

The chief of the Karthan tribe is Sarkhem Nord (human middle-aged male, brutal demeanor, Champion), a bloodthirsty buccaneer who leaves just a single survivor on any ship he attacks, to help his reputation grow. He carefully balances his tribe's activities among pirating, ship building, and (surprisingly) scholarly efforts to improve ship-building techniques and further the science of navigation. While he shares the Ackalite belief in attaining glory by following the ways of Ackal Ergot, Chief Nord doesn't consider advancing the technologies of war contrary to that philosophy.

Ker-Vakt. The settlement that sums up the Ackalite nature as perceived by other Ergothians is Ker-Vakt. This massive fortress consists of a stone keep surrounded by moats and earthen works fraught with pit traps, archer positions concealed by brambles, and false gates that lead to killing zones. Ackalite troops drill constantly on and around the defensive structures, and large work crews consisting of slaves and convicted criminals work constantly to expand the fortress and change trap locations. The rotting bodies of spies, traitors, and Ackalite warriors who just couldn't meet the commander's high standards serve as grisly ornamentations, impaled on wooden and metal spikes.

While Overchief Reknal resides in Beacon, his son, Sorath (human adult male, inventive demeanor, Adventurer), handles tribal concerns in Ker-Vakt. Built in response to Castle Hillfal, this fortress town provides a formidable defense. Though not as impressive in appearance as the Solamnic citadels on the mainland, it remains impenetrable - as commanders who have attempted strikes against Ackal can attest. The Alunatal River, impassible on both banks, forms another impressive barrier.

Major Ruins

In addition to the ruins of the lost ogre civilization that dot the Sentinel Mountains are the remnants of human cities. Such a site, called Truth, lies in the northern tip of the range.

Before the first Cataclysm, this bustling city of fifteen thousand held a place of honor in the empire as a major religious center. Every one of Krynn's gods had a temple here, whether the government officially endorsed the religion or not. Further, Truth housed countless shrines to lesser entities, such as the nature spirits honored by some Kagonesti and barbarian tribes. At the empire's zenith, Truth served as a resting stop for pilgrims on their way to World's Heart. Only Daltigoth rivaled it as a cultural center.

All that ended with the Kingpriest's ill-fated attempt to command the gods. The city's priests all vanished on the eve of Istar's destruction, one seer claiming moments before she vanished: "The black Knight of the Rose has doomed Istar, the empire, and even his own homeland. Draco Paladin chose ill when he put his trust in a man of Solamnia."

Truth escaped the Cataclysm unscathed, but fell a few short years later when a murderous army of Ackalites descended upon the city to loot the temples and take revenge upon gods who had devastated the world. Historians estimate that the invaders mercilessly slaughtered ten thousand men, women, and children. Vengeful Ackalite leaders had the fields sown with salt, and their shamans placed powerful curses upon each and every temple.

To this day, guards still patrol the city to drive off the occasional treasure seeker. Legend holds, however, that Truth was the site of the return of Manthus, the Ergothian god of war and scholarship, after an adventurer reconsecrated the temple here in the early days of the War of the Lance.

Mystic Places

Ackal boasts two confirmed mystic sites, both in the Sentinel Mountains. (Some suspect that the ruins of Truth contain at least one more, but this is uncertain.)

World's Heart. The best-known mystic place is World's Heart. Located at the center of the remains of an ogre city, on a plateau overlooking Truth, World's Heart has been a fabled site since the founding of the empire.

According to legend, Ackal Ergot became the first human to lay eyes on the city since the ancient humans shed their ogre bonds. While exploring, he came upon an immense stone that pulsed with a reddish glow and gave off a faint sound not unlike a heartbeat. It is said that World's Heart inspired a vision in the barbarian warrior that encouraged him to embark upon the path of empire building.

World's Heart sits in a large arenalike structure. The weatherworn fragments of the arena's dome lie scattered about, yet the stone remains untouched by wind and weather. Even in winter, snow never falls upon it.

Pilgrims used to journey to World's Heart in the hopes of receiving a vision, as Ackal did. One must place one's hands upon the stone and clear one's mind, they believed; visions will come to the worthy. Unfortunately, this tradition ended when the Ackalites destroyed Truth after the first Cataclysm. Now, World's Heart serves as the site for Ackalite council meetings and challenges to the overchief. Powerful mystics and warriors guard the site at all times, emerging from the ogre ruins to slay trespassing explorers, adventurers, and seekers of knowledge.

World's Heart does not seem affected by the departure of the gods or any other madness of the events three decades ago. It continues to pulse rhythmically, and the overchiefs of the modern age still claim it guides them with visions.

The Moon Steps. Ackal's second mystical site once held one of Ansalon's "celestial ladders" (the most famous being the Silver Stair on Schallsea). Essentially, celestial ladders are steps that seem suspended in midair, winding around an invisible post up into the sky. Purportedly, these mystical conveyances would transport the worthies who climbed them to Godshome, and those found lacking to the Abyss.

When the gods left Ansalon, the three moons that had hung in the night sky for millennia vanished. At the same moment, the Moon Steps collapsed, tumbling down on the shrines devoted to the gods of magic at their base. However, after a visit there some years back, representatives of the Citadel of Light say the ruined Moon Steps remain rife with arcane energy. Even sorcerers find their magic much easier to use here, especially when the pale moon that replaced the old ones is full.

Main Populace

The human barbarians of Ergoth's northernmost province are known as Ackalites. Most have dark skin, black hair, and brown eyes.

Like their neighbors in Ergoth proper, Ackalites speak Ergot.

Description

Men of Ackal commonly dress in leathers when not expecting battle. When preparing for war or meeting to discuss tribal business, most wear ornately filigreed or engraved leather or scale armor. Men wear their hair cropped close to the head and always carry at least one weapon.

Women wear loose-fitting cloth robes and veils in public. Tradition forbids them to cut their hair, which they wear in dozens of braids arranged in complex patterns.

Culture

Ackalite tribes have grown even more patriarchal than the larger segment of Ergothian society. Females are considered the property of their fathers until they bear a child - when they become the property of the baby's father. The single exception is the daughter of a man with no sons. This Ackalite daughter, raised to carry on the family line as a son would, may crew a ship, or practice a trade, or even join a war band.

Marriage is an unknown institution among the Ackalites, though extended families hold great importance, particularly when one of the frequent blood feuds erupt. Both men and women enjoy genealogical study as a pastime, and most chiefs claim to trace their roots back to Ackal Ergot or some other hero of Ergoth's glory days.

Ackal province and its people embody all that is negative about the Ergothian mind-set. Since the first Cataclysm, they have engaged in violence for its own sake and for conquest.

However, they remain highly organized and exist within a rigid set of laws and behavioral codes supposedly handed down from Ackal Ergot himself. These codes contain guidelines on everything from how a woman should care for her man's boots to the proper way of dividing loot from raids. In truth, however, these laws only vaguely resemble ancient Ergothian legal codes.

Several varieties of bloodsports, similar to those practiced in Ergoth proper, enjoy popularity in Ackal as well.

Trade

The Ackalites consider raiding and piracy the honorable way of sustaining themselves. The only realm they trade with regularly is Hylo. The tribes practice a strict barter system among their towns, each of which specializes in a different craft. This way of doing business suits the kender just fine. In particular, the Ackalites trade a variety of objects - which they plundered or crafted themselves - for the right to cut lumber in northern Kenderhome.

History

In 8PC, Emperor Gwynned VI invaded Solamnia, vassal state of reviled Istar. At the height of the campaign, however, the emperor died and his young successor, Gwynned VII, ordered the legions to halt. Not long after, the Cataclysm struck.

The coincidence of these events led many Ergothians to believe the gods were punishing them for becoming soft. This notion led a vast segment of the surviving population to return to the barbaric ways ofAckal Ergot, the violent nomadic chief who had founded the empire more than two thousand years earlier. Arming themselves, these folk went on killing sprees, "conquering" neighboring villages, "vanquishing" unsuspecting travelers, and looting and pillaging everywhere they went.

Of course, these "Ackalites" bore no resemblance to their ancient forebears; they became nothing more than vicious killers. Still, with each passing month, their numbers swelled. By 30AC, a second generation of Ackalites had come of age, and all land north of the Dermount River and Hylo had fallen to them. More interested in power and wealth than wanton slaughter, these younger warriors seemed closer in spirit to Ackal Ergot than their twisted parents had been. They even defeated the coastal city of Gulfport, which the previous generation had never been able to do. With ships at their disposal, the Ackalites set their sights on Gwynned and the rest of the world, intending to bring back the glory of Ergoth from the ashes of a world sundered by the gods.

The Ackalites might have succeeded if not for Baridor Redic, an aging warrior who would one day become emperor. Redic beat the Ackalites back to the northern bank of the Alunatal River, freeing the towns they had enslaved and ending their reign of terror. After breaking the tribes as an effective fighting force, Redic began rebuilding the freed cities. He also ordered the construction of Castle Hillfal, from which he could personally watch over the Ackalites to ensure that they would never again threaten civilization.

Today, the emperor allows the province of Ackal to exist virtually as a sovereign realm. Every few years, Ergothian troops make a show of force and the imperial fleet blockades the harbors of Ker-Brindal and Ker-Karthan to remind the wayward tribes that, like it or not, they remain a part of the empire.

Current Happenings

Over the centuries, the Ackalites have continued to cling to the belief that they are what Ackal Ergot intended for his people. Ironically, as time has passed, the tribes have drifted further from the traditions of their beloved ancestor than most of them would like to admit.

Politics

Ackal is ruled by the Council of Chiefs. Each chief rules his tribe for life, and his word is law for his tribe and its lands. The leader of the council, the overchief, mediates disputes among the tribes and may command all warriors when Ackal comes under attack.

An overchief holds his title for three years, after which time he must prove he remains worthy of the honor. At the summer solstice of the appointed year, the overchief travels to World's Heart along with tribal shamans and anyone wishing to contest his right to lead them. The overchief fights each contender in single combat to the death. The victor of the day becomes overchief.

While it may not seem fair that the reigning overchief must fight several fresh opponents in short succession, the Ackalites believe their chief must be like Ackal Ergot - able to fend off attacks from all sides and still have the strength to lead his people on to glory. An overchief incapable of meeting this standard would rather die in battle than permit his weakness to endanger all the tribes.

The present overchief, Tambov Reknal (human elder male, vigilant demeanor, Master), comes from the Vakt tribe. His reputation for shrewd and ruthless behavior has sparked rumors that he has entertained emissaries from the Dark Knights ofPalanthas. Other reports indicate that Reknal seeks to forge tighter alliances among the tribes of Ackal. Of course, either one of these circumstances would raise concerns in the Imperial Court. However, the coincidence of the stories has imperial advisers and generals agitating for swift, fierce action to prevent Reknal from bringing the horrors of the mainland to Ergoth.

For now, however, the emperor has agreed merely to send representatives to open discussions with Tambov Reknal. The overchief graciously received them, listened to their accounts of the emperor's concerns, then sent them back to Gwynned with not the faintest hint as to his long-term goals.

Today in Ackal

Overchief Reknal knows he will face challenges from several lesser chiefs when his term expires at next year's solstice. Whispered rumors hold that, rather than wait for the challenge at World's Heart, he uses covert violence to force would-be challengers back into line.

Each tribe traditionally provides the overchief with a dozen men for annual service in Beacon. Recently, Reknal has ordered each tribe to provide half again as many additional warriors and has begun massing ships. Troop commanders have been training the men harder than usual, which makes the Imperial Court in Gwynned increasingly concerned that the overchief plans to launch an assault against Ergoth proper.

Another rumor holds that Chief Nord of the Karthan tribe is not as interested in furthering the art of war at sea as he is in treasure seeking. Some claim that he discovered references to a land west of Ansalon while investigating a little-known section of ogre ruins at the head of the Moon River. Supposedly, this land holds untold riches and Nord wants to send his ships to raid it.

Ogaral Province

Like Ackal, Ogaral is a province that enjoys rather a "hands-off" policy from the empire. Emperor Redic VI seems more interested in assimilating Solamnian refugees and trying to predict the Dark Knights' next move than in bringing the monster-ridden province back under his firm control.

Important Holdings

In truth, Ogaral is hardly a province even in name. This tiny northeastern region just north of Hylo has no major cities. In fact, it contains no towns at all, nor mystic sites - just one prominent ruin on the Isle of the Serpent and some scattered settlements of trolls.

The only large structure in the entire province is an offshore tower - all that remains of Fort Ogaral, once the mightiest citadel in the northern empire. The Cataclysm washed away most of the fortress, leaving only a single tower clinging to a wave-battered, rocky island.

The rest of the province comprises a small tract of rocky high ground along Northern Ergoth's coast and some swampy territory along the east bank of the Moon River. Trolls make their homes in makeshift shelters. The broken bones of thousands of trollish dinners litter the area around their dwellings, jutting from the ground like spikes. To approach these settlements without injuring feet or footwear, one must approach very carefully - or wear hard boots.

Main Populace

Two distinct packs of trolls populate the province of Ogaral. None of the local folk speak a language other than their native Troll.

The trolls' effective ruler is a naga, a snakelike monster with a human head and great intelligence and magical powers (see Chapter Six of the Book of the Fifth Age). It purportedly dwells in the ruin of Fort Ogaral's one remaining tower. This creature, known as T'ragna to those outside the province, has the following game characteristics:

T'ragna: A naga. Co 8, Ph 30, In 8, Es 8, Dmg +7, Def -3, also spit poison, sensitivity, necromancy, mediation, sorcery (divination, transmutation, enchantment).

Description

Most of the time, little of interest takes place in Ogaral province. However, at every full moon, all the trolls in both packs swim across the narrow channel from their homes to the ruined tower on the Isle of the Serpent. There they remain for three days, during which time eerie howls and the haunting sounds of raspy voices raised in weird song float out over the sea.

Clearly, the trolls visit the island each month to perform some manner of ritual, but no one knows its purpose. Neither have observers discerned any apparent result of this practice, but they do note that the odd behavior seemed to begin only after the Second Cataclysm.

Culture

Trolls generally don't have a culture or society outside their immediate pack, but somehow T'ragna has instilled within these stupid creatures a basic sense of honor and kinship. The two troll packs now cooperate in patrolling and watching over their swampy little domain.

Trade

T'ragna has been known to foretell the future or use sorcerous powers in exchange for slaves or rare gems. Dark Knights, Ackalites, and minotaurs who have visited the naga over recent decades report that the creature seems unerring in its prophecies. What T'ragna does with these people and items is unknown, but some link their fate to the apparent increase in the local trolls' intelligence. The monster's preferred slave stock includes dwarves, goblins, kender, and sea elves.

History

Prior to the first Cataclysm, Ogaral was a marshy, bug-infested lowland. As it proved impossible to move heavy cavalry or siege engines through this morass, imperial troops stationed at Fort Ogaral incorporated the terrain into their defenses - they basically fortified the entire region. The trolls, on the other hand, were a local feature that the Ergothian warriors did not find as useful but could never completely exterminate.

When the Cataclysm created the Straits of Algoni, much of Fort Ogaral sank under the new waters. The empire abandoned the province, and for centuries neither the kender of Hylo to the south nor the Ackalites to the north felt inclined to challenge the trolls or the mountains that hindered passage into the region. Explorers that finally ventured into the area in 5SC found themselves captured by trolls and taken to the tower on the Isle of the Serpent. There they met the resident naga, who warned them that any of the "lesser races" who attempted to settle the province or invade Ogaral's tower would be destroyed. Then the creature freed a prisoner to spread its message.

So far, the naga has made good on its threat; many kender expeditions have died at the hands of its servant trolls or through bizarre magical effects. The trolls prosper in the small area.

Current Happenings

During harsh summers, when the marsh along the Moon River begins to dry out, the trolls have been known to raid kender farms near the Hylo border for livestock. In the past, the kender usually just battled them back to their marsh, heeding the naga's orders to not trespass (enough kender had lost their lives that way for the border folk to get the point).

However, the afflicted kender who now live in the area - far more belligerent and martial than Kenderhome's traditional residents - talk of mounting an expedition at the next sign of raiders.

Politics

T'ragna remains the undisputed lord of Ogaral and the land's troll inhabitants. Its existence is not widely known beyond its foul slaver clientele and the folk of Northern Ergoth.

Today in Ogaral

According to some minotaur sea captains, the naga has recently offered greater payments for slaves, particularly goblins and kender. Reportedly, it also has grown quite short-tempered over the last few months. Slavers who have worked with T'ragna for many years speculate that this may not be the same creature they've dealt with in the past.

The empire's remote scouts report that the trolls also have seemed restless lately - as though they sense that something is about to happen.

Sikk'et Hull Province

The Empire ofErgoth's southern province, Sikk'et Hul, is an inhospitable region of badlands. Over the centuries, the race of surprisingly civilized goblins who live there have become part of life in Northern Ergoth. In fact, Sikk'et Hul has a better relationship with the Imperial Court than either of the empire's other two provinces.

Important Holdings

Sikk'et Hul boasts among its significant holdings three multi-ethnic settlements plus a scattering of ruins and mystic sites.

Noteworthy Settlements

Residents of Sikk'et Hul built their major settlements on the abandoned husks of human towns. The villages of Lusid and Depre each house three hundred goblins and a small number of kender, while the province's capital, Manic, is home to fifteen hundred goblins, one hundred kender, and a handful of human sea barbarians.

Lusid. Citizens of Lusid on the southern coast make their living from fishing and farming. Unfortunately, fishing is not as good as it used to be, thanks to the rough waters stirred up by the winds off the coast of chilly Southern Ergoth. Even more problems have sprung up for Lusid's fishermen of late, as Solamnian settlers from Thonvil in Ergoth proper have taken to harassing goblin boats.

Depre. The folk of Depre focus their efforts on mining a cache in the southernmost tip of the Sentinel Mountains and forging the ore into strong alloys. The small tribe of human barbarians living in Ker-Manth to the north trade for the metal, which they use to make weapons. More of these metals go to members of the sea barbarian enclave in Manic, who then sell it to merchants from Saifhum.

Manic. Both the capital and the heart of Sikk'et Hul, Manic contains sizable human and kender enclaves as well as its resident goblins. The province lord dwells here in an opulent (by goblin standards) manor house down the street from the library that helped civilize local goblins after the first Cataclysm.

Knowledgeable adventurers traveling to Northern Ergoth in search of ogre treasure generally hire a goblin guide in Manic before heading north into the mountains. The sea barbarians of this coastal city work both as traders and as innkeepers. Visitors will find two types of establishments in Sikk'et Hul: one for those returning from a successful expedition (and can afford virtually any comfort or pleasure), and one for those who either were unsuccessful or plan to embark upon a treasure hunt soon.

Ker-Manth. A barbarian village farther north than the three goblin cities, Ker-Manth consists of about a dozen families. These humans live much more peaceably than the Ackalites but trade in items of war: They barter swords and other metal items to the goblins of Deprt for supplies of metal raw materials. A surplus of these swords go to Kenderhome in exchange for food and wood.


Ergoth's Gods

Citizens of the Empire of Ergoth know Krynn's vanished pantheon by different names than those the scribes in Palanthas use to refer to the deities. The chart below offers the Ergothian names for some of the major gods, and their better-known Solamnian equivalents:

Solamnian Name    Ergothian Name
Chemosh    Aeleth
Habbakuk    The Blue Phoenix
Kiri-Jolith    Corij
Majere    Manthus
Sargonnas    Argon
Takhisis    Dragon Queen


Major Ruins

The ruined city of Fav, located between the southernmost arms of the Sentinel range, has lain in ruins since just before the Cataclysm. The local goblins' one exploration effort ended when they discovered the gully dwarves who had claimed the ruins and found themselves quickly taken hostage.

The gully dwarves remain the only known inhabitants of Fav. Enticing rumors persist to this day of the city's fabulous treasures, their true value unknown to Fav's simple inhabitants.

Mystic Places

The province of Sikk'et Hul contains two ancient and mysterious sites: one long associated with the Dark Queen and her followers and the other a legacy of the lost huldre race.

Raekel's Pit. A terrible mark left upon Krynn by one of Takhisis's most Evil priests, Raekel's Pit continues in the Fifth Age to fester like an open sore.

At some point after the Second Dragon War but before Ackal Ergot conquered Daltigoth, legend has it that a priest known as Raekel plotted against Ergot. Although he claimed to be a servant of Manthus the Mighty, Raekel in fact honored a triumvirate of Evil gods - the Dragon Queen; her consort, Aeleth; and Argon, god of dark vengeance. These deities promised to give Ergot's fledgling empire to Raekel if he would perform rituals to grant them ultimate power over Ansalon.

Somehow, three gods of Good - Manthus the Mighty, Corij the Blade, and the Blue Phoenix - uncovered the plot and sent their own champion to oppose Raekel. The champion's identity varies from story to story: Some cast Ackal Ergot in the role (the most popular versions in the empire), while others name the elf leader Silvanos or even a lowly kender or gnome.

In all versions, however, the hero arrives too late to stop Raekel from performing the sacrifices that begin the ritual, but instead manages to throw him into the gap he has opened to the Abyss. All the while, the three gods of Good combat the three gods of Evil.

The gods may have withdrawn from Krynn in the Fifth Age, but Raekel's Pit remains open. The shaft, two hundred feet across, overflows with boiling mists and howling shadows. Its location at the crux of the southern arms of the Sentinel Mountains makes it fairly inaccessible to those outside Sikk'et Hul - and locals never go there.

Since the Chaos War, stories have circulated that on the darkest, longest night of each year, a ten-year-old child crawls from Raekel's Pit. The tales go on to predict that when these children have all come of age, they will form a conclave of thirty-three mystics with the power to complete the ritual Raekel started so many centuries ago. If these stories are true, then only one more child will emerge from the pit. In roughly ten years, that child will come of age and join with his otherworldly kin to complete Raekel's dark ritual.

The Monolith. Another place where Sikk'et Hul natives never go (well, except for the odd kender now and then) is the Monolith, on the west side of Huldre Bay. An ancient huldrefolk site, the Monolith has reportedly emitted strange lights and sounds, noticeable even far from shore. More than one kender, after going to investigate, has never been heard from again.

Main Populace

Sikk'et Hul's diverse population includes goblins, kender, gully dwarves, and humans. Most residents speak Goblin, Kenderspeak, Gully Talk, or Ergot - and many speak more than one language.

Description

By goblin standards, the inhabitants of Sikk'et Hul are remarkably civilized. While still clannish scavengers lacking the creative spark to construct their own technologies, these goblins have overcome the short-sightedness and insatiable drive for conflict that historically has made their mainland cousins into the pawns of Evil forces.

Culture

Uncharitable souls say the Sikk'et Hul goblins became docile after breeding with gully dwarves and kender. The goblins themselves credit their early leaders wilh their success as a society. These goblin ancestors did something few other goblins had ever done: They read the works of literature and philosophy in I he cities they looted. From the basis of Pre Cataclius Ergothian philosophy - mostly the teachings of the scholar- monks who followed the Ergothian god Manthus, the goblins learned organization, industry, meditation, dream interpretation, and the martial arts.

Over the last four centuries, the goblins of this province have built a society that revolves around carefully contemplating each idea before acting on it. This revolutionary development arguably marks the first truly independent goblin culture on Ansalon.

However, they still lack the imagination to create their own tools, weapons, and buildings. Repeated attempts all meet with failure - although they have managed to invent a selection of less-than-effective weapons, such as razor boomerangs and exploding mace heads.

Still, bards from Lancton have observed goblins in Sikk'et Hul performing ancient Ergothian tunes. At First, the visitors winced at the singers' squeaky voices, poor renditions of traditional arrangements, and out-of-tune instruments. Then, slowly they realized the instruments weren't out of tune - the goblins had adapted them to better suit their voices. Likewise, the goblins had created new arrangements to make the Ergothian work their own. Perhaps the next step is original goblin compositions. Whatever the case, a unique goblin culture is emerging in Sikk'et Hul.

The gully dwarves of ruined Fav live much like gully dwarves do anywhere else - in the dirt. They scavenge for food and clothing in the long-dead ruins, hiding or groveling for mercy whenever someone with a weapon happens by.

The peaceful human barbarian residents of Sikk'et Hul keep to themselves. The kender living along the border between Sikk'et Hul and Kenderhome also coexist peacefully with the goblins, although the afflicted kender of Hylo cause some problems (see "Hylo").

Trade

The goblins don't really produce much worth trading for. The metals refined from the ore in the mines near Depre constitute the bulk of local trade goods.

The goblins also let adventurers loot the ogre ruins in the southern Sentinel Mountains (even without the empire's permits), provided they take nothing that might be a book or other source of information or instruction. A goblin "guide" always escorts these parties to make sure they adhere to the deal. Groups that prove untrustworthy find themselves facing not only the wrathful goblins, but also irritated kender and angry human barbarians - the friends and allies of these unusual folk.

History

Goblin history is hard to recount factually. After all, goblins rarely write anything down (few can write at all), so all scholars have to draw upon are goblin oral histories and the histories of other nations. The most likely history of Sikk'et Hul follows.

Snagglefang and the Sentinel Treaty

In issuing his Proclamation of Manifest Virtue in 118PC, the Kingpriest unwittingly encouraged a strange alliance. For centuries, the Empire of Ergoth had tried to exterminate the goblin tribes of the Sentinel range. However, the edict united these two factions against a common enemy.

Shortly after the proclamation, famed goblin chieftain General Snagglefang approached the Ergothian garrison commander at Even and asked him to carry a message to the emperor. The commander chased the goblin delegation back into the hills, but the message nonetheless made its way to the emperor. It was an offer of alliance from several goblin tribes. After the members of the Imperial Court had a good laugh, they went back to plotting the downfall of the Kingpriest.

Meanwhile, Solamnia stood on the empire's doorstep, raiding sabers on Istar's behalf. Ergoth had more important things to worry about than the goblin raiders in the Sentinel range, so the emperor diverted those legions to more constructive pursuits. Snagglefang, however, assumed that the end of the goblin hunts meant that the Empire of Ergoth had accepted his proposal. He immediately began preparing his tribes for war against Solamnia.

Modern historians know very little about Snagglefang. He appears to have been an unusual member of his species, as he directed most of his efforts toward the long-term survival of his people rather than self-gratification and personal aggrandizement. One theory states that the empire's active hunting of Ergoth's goblins over a period of centuries in fact produced a stronger and smarter breed of goblin by killing the weaker members of the race.

Snagglefang had spent years clawing his way to the top of the western goblins and, in Ackal Ergot-like fashion, united several tribes under him to form a small kingdom in the Sentinel Mountains. Some historians speculate that he controlled these tribes by giving them riches from a secret ogre ruin, known only to him and his heirs, which made them wealthy beyond imagination. Others posit that Snagglefang somehow secured the services of fey creatures living near Raekel's Pit and controlled the Sentinel goblins through their magic.

Snagglefang apparently passed his astounding leadership abilities on to his son, Deathwielder, who assumed control of the tribes some time before 38PC. This aging goblin contacted the Imperial Court in the spring of that year to discuss their alliance.

After sneaking into Daltigoth (he and his delegation were nearly killed at the gate), Deathwielder provided Gwynned V with a breakdown of his troops, intelligence on the forces arrayed along the Solamnia-Hylo-Ergoth border. Finally, he announced that he and his Sentinel Warriors stood ready to do their part for the alliance. While the diminutive creatures had simply amused Gwynned and his advisers up to that point, mention of an alliance surprised the emperor. A search of imperial records uncovered Snagglefang's original offer.

To Gwynned's credit, he dismissed the guards (waiting to slay the emissaries as soon as they ceased to be amusing) and ordered a scribe to put the "Sentinel Treaty" into a more respectable format; while Snagglefang had been able to write - an unusual trait for a goblin - he had managed only a barely legible, childish scrawl. Gwynned and Deathwielder each put their mark on the new document, making official a treaty the goblins had adhered to for two generations.

Battle Begins

The emperor then instructed Deathwielder to begin raiding the Solamnic lines - enough to make the Knights' lives miserable, but not enough to make them chase the goblins into the mountains. Gwynned promised Deathwielder that once he and his military advisers had formulated a solid battle plan, his legions would march north to help the goblins smash the Knights.

The goblins resumed their habits of several centuries, focusing their raids against Solamnic watch posts. Gwynned V, however, had no intention of sending an army to support them. But when the Tower of High Sorcery in Daltigoth fell to the fanaticism of the Kingpriest's Ergothian followers in 19PC, Gwynned VI decided the time for all-out war with Istar and her allies had come. Refusing to join Istar's Greatmeld had made the empire weak, though - Gwynned VI had to move very carefully. Enter the goblins.

While Senators and agitators worked to stir up public opinion against Istar, Gwynned VI and his top military advisers carefully conceived their battle plans. Among the emperor's advisers was General Shadowstalker the Younger, Deathwielder's grandson. Over the last fifty years, his people had gathered a great deal of information on the evolution of Solamnic tactics, as well as their strengths and weaknesses - plus they had become familiar with the border region. Diaries of high-ranking Ergothian generals reveal that Shadowstalker had earned their respect.

Adapting the goblins' tactics, the Ergothian legions began harassing Solamnic border outposts. The results so delighted Gwynned VI that he promised Shadowstalker the Younger that when Istar fell he would reward the Sentinel goblins with a province as their homeland. The territory in question would one day become Sikk'et Hul.

When full war erupted in 8PC, the goblin troops were among the most lethal on the northern frontier - so lethal, in fact, that a Solamnic commander chose to violate the Kingpriest's ban on magic and call upon the skills of a wizard. No one knows this spellcaster's identity, but his mighty magic helped Solamnic troops push southwest to the city of Fav, even amid stalemates on all other fronts.

The Cataclysm

In the year of Cataclysm, a Solamnic army stood poised to conquer Fav. The diary of a survivor indicates that this force encountered a combined army of goblins, humans - many just commoners wielding clubs and pitchforks - and kender who crossed the mountains from the Hylo town of Thisway to help defend the city. The ferocity of their resistance worried the Solamnics, who feared they might lose the battle.

Rather than face such disgrace, the commander ordered his wizard to use his most powerful magic to destroy the enemies of Good. The spellcaster obeyed, but something must have gone wrong with the spell; it devastated the entire Fav valley, destroyed his own army almost to a man, and inflicted terrible losses upon the Ergothian defenders. Over the next few decades, it would become apparent that the spell had somehow poisoned the land. Never again would it be fertile south of the Sentinels.

While survivors assessed the damages, the Cataclysm struck. At first, the combatants thought it another spell, but when the extent of the devastation became clear. General Shadowstalker recalled the words he had heard priests of Manthus foretell when last he visited Daltigoth: The gods would destroy Istar for its sins. From what his scouts told him, it seemed to Shadowstalker that the gods had destroyed a lot of other people in the process.

Still, Shadowstalker felt an obligation to report to his imperial commanders. So, he gathered the remains of his army and the survivors from Fav (reduced to smoking ruins by the wizard's magic) and marched toward nearby Hillfort. There he discovered the soldiers had abandoned their post, so he pushed on to Gwynned.

Amid the confusion at the death of heirless young Emperor Gwynned VII, no one wanted to deal with the goblin and his troops, so the praetor told him to leave. Shadowstalker mentioned that Gwynned VI had promised that once the war was over the empire would reward his tribes with what was now the southern province of Northern Ergoth. Was the war over? he asked. Just to get rid of him, the military commander said yes. So Shadowstalker departed to claim his land. Returning to the blasted southern territory, the general sent scouts into the mountains with a message: Their people finally had a land to call their own.

The New Homeland

In the first years after the Cataclysm, the goblin land became known as Sikk'et Hul ("The Place," in a northern peasant dialect of Ergot). Goblins descended from the Sentinel Mountains and settled in the cities now largely abandoned by humans. The few remaining humans always fled at the sight of an approaching goblin horde.

In Lusid, Depre, and Manic, the goblins found some artifacts of human culture that the Cataclysm had left intact. Most of the goblins heeded the words of Shadowstalker the Younger (who got the idea from the kender he had fought with in the great battle): Why destroy what you might use?

For more than twenty years, the goblins lived peacefully in Sikk'et Hul. When they grew curious about the books they found in their cities, the kender of Hylo taught them to read. From books, they learned to mine and slowly began to conceive of a completely different kind of life than what they were used to.

In 23AC, as one of his last acts as Lord of Sikk'et Hul, Shadowstalker organized a joint goblin-kender effort to restart the mines near Hillfort and Depre. While he achieved great success with the Depre mines, efforts at Hillfort failed immediately, as the fortress's new imperial commander chased off the would-be miners. He and his men pursued them as far east as Lusid, at which point he decided that having to live in that wasteland was punishment enough for the goblins, as long as they didn't try to plunder his mine again.

The venerable Shadowstalker died in the chase. After fending off challenges from tribal leaders, his son Wolfkin assumed the leadership of Sikk'et Hul. Wolfkin's experience showed him that such obstacles forced a ruler to prove himself worthy to lead, so he declared the lord of the province would hereafter undergo these challenges in an annual event. With the help of tribal shamans, he laid down a set of guidelines to govern the contest.

The primary threat to the fledgling goblin nation in these early years emanated from the magic that had saturated the land. In the mountains between Sikk'et Hul and Kenderhome lived wild animals that grew to two or three times their normal size. While the giant game animals proved an abundant food source, the overgrown preda- tors made hunting very dangerous. In the winter, it was not uncommon for Manic to be menaced by giant wolves.

Despite its proximity to these magically mutated animals. Manic grew into Sikk'et Hul's largest settlement. Further, it boasted farmable surrounding land and a favorable coastal location for easy trade with Kenderhome. These factors cemented a relationship that had begun at the Battle of Fav. The kender helped the goblins build docks and even gave them a ship. Using books they had found, the goblins attempted to build more ships, but achieved success only with kender assistance.

In 89AC, Sikk'et Hul faced its first outside threat: A band of Ackalites attempted to invade the province from the sea. They sailed two war galleys into Manic's harbor and stormed the city, but met with such fierce resistance that they never made it out of town. The goblins claimed the war galleys and have used them ever since, repairing them with wood from Hylo Forest.

Settling In

Over the centuries that followed, Sikk'et Hul became a recognized part of Northern Ergoth. The goblins remained the best guides for travel in the Sentinel range, and the cash-strapped post-Cataclysm emperors found their coffers filled with ogre treasure - tithes from the goblin province.

In 128AC, the goblins finally got around to exploring the still-smoldering ruins of Fav. To their amazement, they found the city inhabited by Aghar. Where they had come from, no one could say, but they clearly intended to stay. The first group of goblin explorers were taken hostage by the gully dwarves, who issued the following demands to Manic: "Two shoos, one pottatoe, two knifes, two goblin wimmen, two pretty jems. If not here in two days, goblins die."

The goblin Lord Slasher responded to the ultimatum by leading two hundred of his warriors into the city. As the gully dwarves cowered, Slasher killed their king (the "Highfav") as punishment for the extortion attempt, then demanded an annual tribute of two hundred steel pieces in exchange for letting the Aghar live in peace.

To this day. Manic receives tribute ranging from three steel pieces to five thousand steel pieces annually; the amount depends upon how many forgotten caches the gully dwarves discover within their city and whether the Highfav remembers to gather the annual tribute. The Sikk'et Hul goblins, ill typical ungoblinlike fashion, don't seem concerned about the amount of coin they receive.

In 340AC, Nerakan emissaries of Takhisis's growing dragonarmies arrived in Manic with greetings from the Dark Queen and a request for the province to devote itself to her cause. The ecstatic goblin shamans, who had continued to honor the goddess during her absence, prepared to whip the population into a war-hungry frenzy - until Lord Sunchaser the Steadfast had them imprisoned within his Great Hall.

He then asked his council of advisers for their opinions. All seemed in accord on the issue: The gods almost destroyed the world with their Cataclysm, then turned their back on it. If the gods want to fight, they can do so without Sikk'et Hul. And so, Sunchaser sent the goblin shamans to the emissaries' ship with the message that Sikk'et Hul and its citizens would not fight in a war expressly geared toward the glory of a deity.

As all in Ansalon well know, the dragonarmies got along quite well without Sikk'et Hul and, had it not been for the actions of a brave few, Takhisis certainly would have triumphed. However, in 352AC, an expedition consisting of hobgoblins and goblins (including some of the shamans that Lord Sunchaser had driven out twelve years earlier) set out for Manic to punish the goblins for not heeding the Dark Queen's call to arms. However, whether through Fate or divine intervention, a storm blew the attacking fleet north, causing it to run aground in Ogaral. As the army tried to march south through Hylo, the kender attacked and destroyed it.

The Summer of Chaos

During the Dark Knight invasion of Ansalon not many years later, the goblins of Sikk'et Hul returned the favor and proved instrumental in preventing the Knights ofTakhisis from conquering Northern Ergoth.

When the ghost of the Tower (see "Hylo") alerted the kender that an invasion fleet approached, they sent messengers to warn Ergoth proper and the empire's three provinces. The Ackal fleet was engaged in raiding, and Ergoth's forces had their hands full with invaders swarming in from the west. The kender had no vessels capable of defeating the dragon-prowed war galleys looming in the east. Only Sikk'et Hul had a ready fleet.

Lord Fleshrender launched anything seaworthy in the direction of the the warships' approach. Virtually every combat-able goblin of Sikk'et Hul took to the sea that day, as shown in the illustration on the next page. Sunset over Northern Ergoth found the Dark Knights and their galleys at the bottom of the Straits of Algoni. The Knights made no further attempt at landings on the island's east or south shores.

Current Happenings

Although the goblins have earned the gratitude of the peoples of Northern Ergoth, the Age of Mortals continues to pose new challenges for Sikk'et Hul.

The influx of refugees from Solamnia and Kendermore threatens the southern province's friendly relations with its neighbors: When the folk of mainland Ansalon see a goblin, they see an enemy. To make matters worse, recent goblin immigrants to Sikk'et Hul from the south too often prove them right. These savage goblins (by local standards), forced from Southern Ergoth by the White Dragon's reshaping of the land into a glacier, cannot set aside a thousand years of ceaseless conflict. The belligerent afflicted kender in Hylo, ironically believing all local goblins in league with the White Dragon, frequently raid northeast Sikk'et Hul, while in the northwest, Solamnian settlers unlawfully seize land to homestead.

The Lord of Sikk'et Hul has appealed to the Imperial Court and issued threats to the kender government. However, the afflicted kender only grudgingly accept sovereignty claims from goblins (who, back in their homeland, serve Malys), and the emperor seems unwilling or unable to control the Solamnian squatters. Already the goblins have threatened to end their centuries-long tradition of tithing ogre gold and steel. The next step will be to attack any Solamnian who attempts to settle in Sikk'et Hul without permission. Such a state of war already threatens in the northeastern part of the province, where the afflicted kender have attacked goblin farms.

Politics

Goblin and gully dwarf political structures closely resemble each other. In both cultures, the strong rule - this element of life in Sikk'et Hul follows the pattern of goblins elsewhere.

As with the Ackalites, the goblin and gully dwarf kings must withstand challenges from clan leaders who would replace them. Unlike the Ackal contestants, however, combatants in Sikk'et Hul do not fight to the death. Instead, those who would challenge the lord must match him in tests of strength, endurance, swiftness, and - most importantly - wits; the goblins of Sikk'et Hul value intelligence and cunning as much as they value force. If defeated, the lord steps aside, though he can join the contest the following year.

Naturally, goblin lordship contests are somewhat more serious than those conducted by the gully dwarves, although the humor in the Aghar challenges is purely unintentional. Last year, at the urging of a visiting goblin, the Highfav announced a wrestling match to decide the challenge: "Best two out of three," in the goblin's words. Unfortunately, it took the combatants several days to deduce the meaning of "three".

It perhaps goes without saying, but in both the goblin and gully dwarf cultures, contestants have been known to cheat by fighting dirty or utilizing magical aid. In these cases, the victor still receives the lordly title, but he rarely manages to accomplish anything during his tenure - other goblins are too busy watching their backs to cooperate with him on new projects. Although such treacherous creatures would rise straight to the top among the rest of Ansalon's goblins, in Sikk'et Hul they usually resign at the end of their terms without even attempting to answer challenges. (Among the gully dwarves, though, the strongest and most deceitful kings generally end up ruling the longest.)

Today in Sikk'et Hul

As tension grows from both inside and out, Sikk'et Hul's goblin leader, Lord Chaosbane (goblin young adult male, running demeanor, Adventurer), seeks new ways to maintain relative independence for his province. He knows that war on Northern Ergoth would weaken all provinces and nations, making them vulnerable to attacks from the Knights of Takhisis and the dragons. Goblin ambassadors have visited Ackal, Hylo, Gwynned, and even New Winterholm and Fav. They carry messages of peace and urge the island's leaders to come together in understanding, lest their differences destroy them all. The local cells and circles of the Legion of Steel assist in these attempts to ease discord.

At the same time, rumors hold that Chaosbane has infiltrated the ranks of the goblin refugees - as well as those of the natives fed up with human and kender aggression - to identify their leaders. If he can't convince them to stop agitating for war, he will eliminate them permanently.

Hylo (Kenderhome)

In the Age of Mortals, Hylo's secondary name, Kenderhome, seems more meaningful than ever. The Red Dragon's destruction of Kendermore far to the east has brought thousands of kender immigrants to this land in recent decades.

Important Holdings

Hylo boasts both some of the oldest and newest settlements in Northern Ergoth. Ruins and supposedly mystic sites dot the countryside - and stories of new sites pop up with great frequency.

Noteworthy Settlements

Hylo residents live in quaint, pastoral villages and towns. These settlements look like collections of incomplete dwellings; whether they live in a snug little burrow or a spacious tree house, kender love to rebuild and renovate. Afflicted kender tend to construct wooden palisades or stone walls around their homes, while other kender rely on hedges and gullies for defense. Twisting stairs and rope ladders link the rooftops of buildings to each other and to the ground.

Lemon

Hylo's northernmost settlement is the port town of Lemon, so named for an orchard of lemon trees that once stood in a valley that the Cataclysm turned into Lemon Bay. The town is home to about two hundred true kender and three hundred afflicted kender. In addition to its harbor traffic. Lemon also has seen some major logging business over the years; Ackalites and others buy wood and miscellaneous goods here.

The afflicted kender recently fortified the town and decided to charge import/export tariffs like human cities do. This move has caused strain between Lemon and area merchants, as the tariffs keep changing. Another new project is the construction of a new warship in Lemon harbor; the afflicted kender hero Nikki Firestopper (afflicted kender adult female, roguish demeanor, Champion) has hired a band of thinker gnomes to build the mighty vessel to help Kenderhome defend itself at sea.

Hidal

Southeast of Lemon is the fortified town of Hidal, home to more than one hundred true kender and three times as many afflicted kender. These kender find Hidal particularly attractive for its location atop a steep hill rising from the floor of a broad valley. Caves and tunnels honeycomb the hillside - ancient dwellings of huldrefolk, kender historians like to claim. True kender find the caves a wonderful playground, while afflicted kender see them as shelters from possible air attacks.

Ocean Town

Inland from Hidal is one of Kenderhome's strangest enclaves, the curiously named Ocean Town. The settlement, home to more than one hundred true kender and only two dozen afflicted kender, clings to the side of a mountain right along the Ergothian border.

Shortly after the first Cataclysm, a kender whose mind had been addled by shock and grief had a "vision" that another tidal wave would wash away the rest of Hylo, leaving only the mountains. Frightened of more devastation, many kender followed him into the Sentinel Mountains, where they built Ocean Town. They labored with amazing concentration for kender, and when they were done, they had built a small town with docks from which they could launch fishing boats. But the disaster never came. By 5AC, the kender began to abandon Ocean Town, though some remained to mine for "pretty rocks" in the Sentinels. Merchants who visit Ocean Town call its docks a wondrous sight - not for their splendor, but for the oddity of their placement on a mountainside.

Safehold

Due south of Hidal stands Safehold, a fortress town constructed by afflicted kender. Part cave complex, part immense tree house, Safehold surrounds a portion of the Lookit River. Moats, hedges, and stone walls encircle the town's ten or so huge trees, each of which holds a dozen tree houses and many archer platforms built into its boughs. Only the two hundred afflicted kender that dwell here know the safe way past the defenses of their city. Needless to say, they don't interact much with the rest of the realm.

Legup

West of Safehold, pressed up against the Sentinel range is Legup, a small village inhabited largely by relatives and descendants of Kronin Thistleknot, a hero of the War of the Lance. Built around ancient ogre ruins, Legup is one of the realm's most splendid places to play hide-and-seek. It also guards Kenderhome's only mountain pass into the Empire of Ergoth.

The security-conscious afflicted kender have tried to take control of Legup, but the town's true kender residents here (who share Kronin's legendary feistiness) fought them off. This rebuff hurt the afflicted kender's feelings: After all, they'd only had everyone's best interests in mind. Of course, the true kender felt bad about hurting their feelings, so they put their cousins from Kendermore in charge of a nearby iron mine. Today, Legup - home to some sixty true kender and as many afflicted kender - remains Hylo's only settlement where the two subraces coexist without conflict.

Lookit

South along the Lookit River from Safehold stands Hylo's second oldest settlement, Lookit. The town is built along

the banks of the river, on the plateaus of a three-tiered waterfall that creates a complex series of rainbows visible all the way from the center of the town.

Many kender consider Lookit Falls the most beautiful place in all Hylo. As testament to this fact, six hundred kender live here. None of this number are afflicted kender, however; they do not consider the town easily defensible. however, they visit the falls frequently - perhaps even more than others, for the beauty helps dull the constant ache they feel over the loss of their homeland and loved ones to the Red Dragon.

Hylo

Almost due east of Legup, at the end of the realm's only road able to handle wagons and carts, lies Hylo. The kender capital is home to twelve hundred true kender and roughly fifteen hundred of their afflicted cousins.

Hylo was built around the flying citadel that brought the kender to this northern forest three thousand years ago (see "History"). The citadel crashed into a steep hillside, making this area by far the most defensible spot in Kenderhome - which explains why the afflicted kender have settled here in great numbers. True kender stay here more or less out of the inertia of tradition.

The kender have overbuilt the citadel to the point where it resembles the castle of a frothing madman. Homes exist within homes in this architect's nightmare, and stairs and hallways lead nowhere - or to hundred-foot drops. The many hidden tunnels and concealed arrow slits would allow the kender to turn the entire town into a tremendous, exceedingly deadly killing ground, should it ever face invasion.

The Tower

Across the bay from Hylo stands an obsidian structure known simply as the Tower. A wide variety of kender tales revolve around this building, but they all agree it houses the spirit of a powerful sorcerer and the best friend Kenderhome lias ever known. Some stories even maintain the ghost is the famed wizard Magius, bound to the Tower by a curse that will be lifted only if someone brings him his famous staff. The ghost of the Tower has become an oracle for the kender, warning them of imminent disasters. For example, the spirit alerted them to the approach of the Dark Knights' fleet during the Summer of Chaos.

Three hundred true kender live near the Tower, protecting it from would-be looters while exploring and fingering the items within to their heart's content.

Gobwatch and Thisway

Southeast of the Tower stands the fortress of Gobwatch, a squat stone building constructed by afflicted kender ostensibly to protect Hylo from invasion by the goblins - clearly agents of the White Dragon seeking to expand his realm. But rather than assume a defensive stance, the forty to eighty afflicted kender living here have taken to launching pre-emptive strikes against the "enemy" to the south.

The kender from the nearby village of Thisway have tried to explain that the goblins of Sikk'et Hul are friends, but to no avail. In fact, Thisway's residents have gotten so annoyed by all the unrest the Gobwatch fortress has caused that have begun to abandon their town and build a new one on the far side of the pass, in Sikk'et Hul. About one hundred true kender still live in Thisway.

Major Ruins

The many ogre ruins along the Sentinel range in Kenderhome are assumed to have been long since explored and looted by the exuberant kender and goblins. Of course, the kender seem eager to visit the ruins over and over again, just for fun. So far, no adventurers have visited one of the ruins without running into kender explorers, who cheerfully invite them to lunch.

Hylo also contains a few ruined kender cities as well as ogre sites. Of course, many of them lie beneath the choppy waters of the Straits of Algoni, but the ancient town of Lost sprawls the length of a valley that still bears the scars of a mighty magical battle.

The original name of Lost has long since vanished down the River of Time, but kender legends still recount how the mighty Magius and two other sorcerers slew two ancient red dragons on that site during the Third Dragon War. The trio had arrived too late to save the town, but they saw to it that those dragons would destroy no more.

Kender occasionally visit the ruins of Lost, but they rarely stay long. The grim air of foreboding hanging over the entire valley subdues even the irrepressible kender spirit. Stories hold that the two red dragons' spirits still linger somewhere in the ruins, unable to find their way to the Abyss and their Queen. The living who visit Lost feel the despair and rage of these spirits, locals say.

Mystic Places

Many kender tales focus on the mystical qualities of the rainbows of Lookit Falls. For instance, gazing upon them supposedly causes the viewer to have visions of the past, present, and future that provide vast insight. However, most mystics and scholars dismiss these claims as flights of fancy - or perhaps kender "visionaries" were so awestruck by the beauty of the waterfall that they just forgot to breathe.

Other apparently mystic places in Hylo Forest include certain rocky groves where a mushroom unique to the realm grows. Once again, those who spend time in these groves reportedly experience visions of a supernatural nature. Most, however, attribute these "visions" to eating the mushrooms.

Main Populace

Both true and afflicted kender dwell in Hylo - usually not altogether peacefully. Most visitors can tell the two groups apart mainly by their attitudes, though Hylo kender tend to wear their hair short, unlike their Kendermore kin. Kenderspeak is the national language, though visitors frequently hear Ergot and Goblin spoken as well.

Description

The foundation of kender society is the family - usually consisting of close relatives and two or three children. Sometime around the age of twenty, kender are possessed by an urge to see the world. These youths travel for years, exploring the mysteries of Krynn. Some kender draw maps of their journeys, which become even more detailed and trustworthy after the kender have fiddled with them for years. Once the wanderlust subsides, the kender become rooted to the land and raise their families.

Culture

The folk of Hylo are oblivious to matters of ownership. If a kender needs something that another person is not using, he innocently borrows the item and puts it to use. Curious kender often pick up objects for closer examination and, if distracted, may forget to put them back. But kender do not steal - ask any of them.

While many human realms have turned away from the gods in the thirty years since the Second Cataclysm, true kender continue to honor Bran the Songmaster (known as Branchala to other races) in weekly ceremonies in wooded groves. The afflicted kender refuse to take part in such silliness, blaming the Songmaster - the highest of gods in the kender pantheon - for not protecting them from the Red Marauder. The Hylo kender and their priests still believe they should honor Bran, for while he no longer enables the priests to perform miracles, the music he created for the world still remains.

Trade

The craftsmen of Hylo produce exquisitely carved wooden objects that, together with ebony, wood, flint, and raw gems, provide a thriving trade with Ackal, Ergoth proper, and Gunthar. The kender import metal and weapons from all three trading partners. They also import grain from the city-state of Caergoth.

Finally, Hylo's kender have a long tradition of working as "finders." Their ability to locate missing persons and objects is renowned throughout Ansalon. With the influx of dark-hearted kender from ravaged Kendermore, the Hylo "finding" business has taken on a vicious taint, in the form of afflicted kender bounty hunters and assassins.

History

Kender scholars have always emphasized the "story" part of "history," rather than getting bogged down in boring things like "facts." Of course, this attitude presents a unique problem for outsiders trying to relay the history of Hylo. As local sources are almost certainly unreliable, historians must decide which are true and which are just kender tall tales.

Early Hylo

Hylo Forest was settled in 2600PC, the same time Ackal Ergot fought to subdue the Khalkist tribes, by a kender clan serving a group of wizards near Balifor. Kender historians call the members of this clan "trusted advisers" while others believe they were more likely slaves.

The wizards were building one of the early Towers of High Sorcery, intending to make it a citadel that could fly through the air. Somehow, the kender got trapped inside the structure, and in their efforts to find a way out, they caused it to take flight. It traversed the continent and eventually crashed in the foothills of the Sentinel Mountains. The kender named their new land Hylo, because the citadel that had brought them there was first high, then low, and in honor of the high mountains and the low forestland.

The kender lived here, undisturbed by humans, for almost two hundred years. They spread throughout the forest on both sides of the bay near their crashed citadel. They named this body the Bay of Monsters - not because it held an unusual number of beasts, but because they wished it did.

Imperial Hylo

During this early period of Hylo's history, several emperors looked toward the kender land intending conquest, but for some reason, none seemed able to. In 2200PC, Emperor Ackal VII finally annexed Hylo, officially renaming it Kenderhome in all imperial documents.

Their inclusion in the empire introduced the kender to concepts such as taxes and forced conscriptions. However, they never minded sharing their food and goods with all the interesting new people in their land. In addition, they looked forward to meeting exciting new people in faraway places as part of the imperial legions.

Throughout the Age of Dreams, the increasingly brutal nature of the Empire of Ergoth went unnoticed by most kender. In fact, Ackal VII remains something of a legend in Hylo. According to the kender, they taught the empire how to wage war, and in return, Ackal VII saw to it that they traveled to all kinds of new places. Naturally, the kender think they got the better end of the deal.

It's not until 1886PC that the kender grew disenchanted with Ergoth. Too many tax collectors arrived in Hylo with violent and negative attitudes, and the military commanders no longer treated the kender with the respect they felt they deserved. So the kender told the imperial governor (who hardly left his palace and never let them inside) that they no longer had any use for him and his humorless troopers and tax collectors. The governor responded by executing the kender delegation and hanging their bodies from his palace wall.

After a brief period of shock, all of Hylo rose up in rebellion and waged a fierce guerrilla war against the Ergothian occupation force. Their battles lasted until 1810PC, when Emperor Emann Quisling decided Kenderhome wasn't worth the trouble it cost him to maintain troops there and withdrew to his own borders. Once the Ergothian troops had left Hylo Forest, the kender resumed trade with the empire. Soon Kenderhome was a greater source of revenue for imperial coffers than ever before.

In 1801 PC, Hylo officially asserted its independence from the empire. Its residents had watched Vinas Solamnus's rebellion with awe and (not realizing that they had, in effect, done the exact same thing a decade earlier) declared that they too wanted independence. The "Statement of Rebellion" that arrived from Hylo as the eastern provinces were completing their secession bewildered imperial bureaucrats, since the empire had considered Kenderhome an independent territory for ten years.

Free Hylo

In 1634PC, Kenderhome found itself at odds with Solamnia. The kender had long admired the Solamnic Knights, due to their "fancy armor" and "neat ways of doing stuff with swords." However, as the kender did not hail from Solamnia and could not meet the Order's strict behavioral codes, the Knights would not admit them.

So the kender started their own knightly order, the Knights of Balif, named for a kender historic figure. The Solamnic Grand Master at the time, Gregori uth Telan, hailed from the province of Lemish and was unfamiliar with the kender and their ways. He considered their action an attempt to belittle the Solamnic Order, so he sent emissaries to Hylo requesting that the kender stop their mockery. Instead of complying, the kender offered the Knights a chance to join the Order of the Acorn. Grand Master Gregori ordered an invasion of Kenderhome, against the recommendation of his advisers.

The confused kender watched as columns of Knights marched into Hylo and surrounded the citadel at the city's heart. The siege lasted roughly three weeks, although the kender never actually realized their town was besieged. Instead, they swarmed around the "enemy camp," heaping admiration upon the Knights and relieving them of many interesting objects.

Eventually, the commander of the force attempted to explain to the kender what the Grand Master found offensive about the Knights of Balif. The kind-hearted kender realized they had "hurt the Grand Master's feelings," and so they disbanded their knighthood, which was beginning to bore them anyway. The Solamnic force returned home without a single life lost.

The Third Dragon War was far more bloody, however. The kender had managed to gather roughly a dozen of the dragon eggs Thoradin's dwarves had mistaken for gems. Most of these wound up in underpopulated areas, but three had been taken to the citadel at the center of Hylo.

When these three eggs hatched, the kender tried keeping the dragons - a blue and two greens - as pets. The arrangement lasted for about a century, after which time the two young green dragons went berserk. They laid waste to part of the citadel and a good portion of town, killing hundreds before they were themselves slain. Exactly what happened to the blue dragon is unknown, but kender histories tell that the creature rose up to defend Hylo during the Third Dragon War, saving it from destruction in an attack in 1030PC. In an ending uncharacteristic of kender history, the dragon's story concludes with his death in 1019PC at the hands of Solamnic Knights, who failed to realize he was friendly.

The possible death of their pet dragon aside, the kender appreciated Solamnia's aid during the war. By 1000PC, that gratitude had manifested itself as a formal alliance between Solamnia and Kenderhome. While some assert that only the kender actually benefited from this alliance, the point is arguable. For instance, about that same time, Palanthas was emerging as a major port, its fleet of merchant vessels and warships built with Kenderhome's wood. With the alliance in place, the production of ships doubled in speed and, by 900PC, the Palanthian fleet was second only to Istar's.

Twilight Before Cataclysm

Historians noted that around 350PC kender in Hylo began worshipping deities other than Branchala and Reorx, their race's traditional gods. These new kender priests and followers of Paladine, Mishakal, and other gods arose due to the influence of Istaran missionaries. By 150PC, however, kender interest in these new gods had waned, as the missionaries made it increasingly difficult for them to stomach religion: The Istarans insisted on ever more rigid ways of honoring the gods, and ever higher tithes to the Kingpriest.

The Istaran presence in Hylo ended once and for all in 12PC, when a visiting priest flogged kender leader Ticklefoot Sunflower for declaring himself the Kingpriest of Kenderhome. A devout follower of Mishakal and a powerful priest in his own right, the kender (like the founders of the Knights of Balif in centuries past) did not understand the offense he had caused. He did understand that he had been attacked. In response, he ordered every Istaran priest driven from Hylo Forest, declaring they obviously were not the holy men they claimed to be.

The Istaran priests went to the High Clerist's Tower and asked the Solamnic Knights to invade Hylo, to avenge their honor and set the heathen kender in their place. Records show that the High Clerist and High Warrior guaranteed the priests that they would launch an attack as soon as winter ended. However, when the time came, they neither mustered an army nor conducted any punitive raids or invasion.

In 118PC, Istar issued the Proclamation of Manifest Virtue, which declared the kender, among other races, inherently Evil. By 115PC, Solamnia had an army arrayed on Hylo's eastern border. However, despite repeated insistence from Istar, the army never invaded.

A variety of songs and stories from this time detail how the Knights and kender would gather on the border during holidays, get drunk, and commiserate about the nonsense issuing from Istar. Other tales tell of attempted invasions repelled by brave kender. Records discovered in the High Clerist's Tower after the War of the Lance reveal that no high-ranking Knight really believed the kender Evil.

The biggest conflict along the Hylo-Solamnia border occurred in 83PC, when an Istaran priest convinced a division commander to disobey his orders and launch a direct strike at Hylo. Casualties mounted on both sides but in the end, the kender won the day. They took the Istaran priest to Hylo, allowing surviving Knights to return to Solamnia in disgrace. The priest was locked in a tower high above the city where he had quite a view. "You can sit up there until you get tired of looking at Hylo," said Sam HalfFinger, Mayor of Hylo, in passing judgment, "or until we get tired of listening to you whine." In 70PC, the Solamnic High Justice finally managed to negotiate for the priest's release.

As Kenderhome's relationship with Solamnia deteriorated due to Istar's influence, relations with Ergoth improved. The kender's unwillingness to allow Solamnia access to their forest permitted Ergothian loggers to harvest more wood. Additionally, the growing feeling among Ergothians that the gods would soon bring Istar low appealed to the kender. While they wished no one ill, a good many tales from this time feature Reorx beating the Kingpriest with his hammer.

When war broke out between Ergoth and Solamnia in 8PC, the kender stood firmly on the side of Ergoth, skirmishing with the Knights on their border but never engaging in the kind of violent conflicts taking place south of them. Still, if they had not tied down several units of Knights along their eastern border, Gwynned VI's war effort might have proven far less successful.

Of course, the Cataclysm rendered this triumph moot. Kenderhome's eastern border vanished under the sea, as the lush valley there became part of the Straits of Algoni.

The Shadow Years

The Cataclysm devastated Hylo more than just physically - it scarred the kender emotionally as well. They could not figure out why the gods had punished them along with Istar. For the first century after the rending of their land, the kender seemed very subdued. In addition to mourning their lost friends and relatives, they became fanatically religious. Their days and nights revolved around making offerings at altars that sprang up all throughout the realm. They also defended their borders fiercely from the advances of violent Ackal in the north, and the goblins in the south, fearing it might have been their friendliness with the Solamnic army camped on their border that caused the gods to punish them. Doomsday cults were also prevalent among kender during this period.

Within three generations, however, the folk of Hylo had lost any personal connection with the tragedy of the Cataclysm. By 250AC, the typical, happy-go-lucky kender was once again sticking his nose where it didn't belong.

The War of the Lance

Isolated on their island, the playful kender thrived in relative peace, forging relationships with the provinces of Ackal and Sikk'et Hul. Soon goblins and kender were living peacefully on both sides of Hylo's southern border.

Kenderhome was the site of the only battle of consequence to occur in Northern Ergoth during the War of the Lance. Details are sketchy and, of course, kender tales surrounding this event are plentiful and contradictory.

In 352AC, a dragonarmy expeditionary force of goblins and hobgoblins landed in Ogaral, just north of Hylo. Some kender tales relate that the force was led by Highlord Toede, but more reliable sources identify the commander as Toade, a human so hideous he was often mistaken for a hobgoblin.

The same tales recount that the force had come to punish the goblins of Sikk'et Hul for not heeding the Dark Queen's call to battle, but that the ship's pilot had lost his way during the night. The famed Solamnic Grand Master Gunthar uth Wistan happened to be in Hylo when the dragonarmy's force marched south toward the kender capital. His journal records how Kronn Thisdeknot (kender adult male, motivated demeanor, Master), son of the kender who defeated the real Lord Toede near Flotsam, and other kender taunted the Toade and his force into charging at the city in a blind rage, at which point hidden kender forces flanked the goblins and massacred the attackers.

After the War of the Lance, Kenderhome returned to pleasant obscurity. Kronn ruled the land briefly, during which he presided over the "Gnometalks," an effort to forge Hylo and Mount Nevermind into a united force. However, he got bored with ruling, and handed the "reins of power" to Kin Thrashen Windseed, who declared herself Meistersinger of Hylo. She insisted ton conducting all government meetings in song. Soon after, she cancelled the Gnometalks, because the gnomes could not carry a tune.

The Age of Mortals

During the Summer of Chaos, Kenderhome went untouched by both Dark Knights and Chaos creatures, thanks to the kender's goblin allies in the south (see "Sikk'et Hul Province").

When word reached Hylo in 4SC about the dragon ravaging Kendermore, the realm's new leader, Fallana Windseed (kender elder female, distracted demeanor, Adventurer), sent emissaries east to offer her displaced cousins aid and an invitation to resettle in Hylo. Over the next few years, thousands of grim kender - the survivors of Malystryx's fiery scourge of Kendermore - reached Hylo with little more than the clothes on their backs. The last wave arrived in 12AC, just before Frost's transformation of Southern Ergoth made the Straits ofAlgoni navigable by only the most skilled seamen.

The kender of Northern Ergoth did their best to welcome the newcomers, hut the two populations just didn't relate well to each other. Gradually, the kender population split into two factions. The refugees - called afflicted kender - built walls around the towns they settled and caused strife with the suspicious goblins of Sikk'et Hul.

Windseed tried to open talks with the kender leading the goblin raids, a young woman named Belladonna (afflicted kender adult female, lawless demeanor, Master, 5 ). To her surprise, Windseed found herself taken captive and forced to surrender the leadership of Hylo to Belladonna.

Current Happenings

Since 13SC, Belladonna has encouraged all in Hylo to fortify their settlements and prepare for dragon assaults. Most of the native kender are less than cooperative, thinking that Belladonna's trick on Fallana Windseed was very unfair. Today, Hylo remains a land divided.

Politics

Hylo has seen every conceivable form of government come and go throughout its history - several times, and sometimes in the space of a week. Traditionally, it is an omnigarchy, meaning rulership by everyone. Everybody does as they please, so long as they do not harm each other. However, the afflicted kender find it difficult to let the old ways stand when there are dragons to defeat.

Today in Hylo

Belladonna and her followers constantly attempt to convince the true kender to engage in military drills, build defenses, and otherwise prepare for invasion. However, even afflicted kender do not follow orders unless they find it either amusing or to their clear advantage.

Despite their lack of law, common threats bring kender into quick cooperation. With little preparation, Hylo can field a formidable army or dozens of covert units. As soon as her troops are ready. Belladonna reportedly plans to send them against the White Dragon.

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