Page 80 - D&D - Player's Handbook

DARKHOLD VALE
I was curious about my source's tale, and so when I
had cause to be in the region, I made my way toward
Darkhold. An enormous mountain peak called the Gray
Watcher of the Morning looms behind Darkhold to the
east, casting a great shadow over the keep from sunrise
until nearly midday. Darkhold sits in a cleft in the side
of the Gray Watcher, the highest point of permanent
occupation in a relatively fiat and defensible valley called
Darkhold Vale.
Darkhold Vale contains a small settlement of the
same name, consisting mostly of shepherds who tend
their flocks in the high meadows of the Sunset Moun-
tains, and a few farmers who coax fine crops from the
soils that cling to the vale's fields. The settlement's main
source of prosperity is the black stone quarry at the
southeastern edge of the vale; the heavy carts groan-
ing with slabs of stone for sale and the large, muscled
workhorses that pull them are common sights here.
Cells of Zhentarim agents were cut loose, and without The common folk of Darkhold Vale tend to be surly
connections or direction, they dissolved or were crushed and suspicious of outsiders, though they are careful to
by rivals. The Zhentarim was no more. avoid offense.
Or so it seemed. There was one stronghold of the This settlement of about a hundred or so is utterly
Zhents that had not fallen and whose leader never under the dominion of Darkhold and has seen some
wavered in his dedication to the organization. Darkhold benefit from the situation: the vale folk see a great deal
stands deep in the mountains of the Western Heart- more traffic and trade than the little hamlet would ever
lands, and there the remnants of the Zhentarim quietly expect otherwise. Until recently, all the caravans bound
gathered. There they swore allegiance anew to the for Darkhold could seek sanctuary only in the shadow of
leader who promised to reforge the organization into the keep itself. Now the people of the vale have recently
something stronger than before. built both an inn, called the Wyvern's Rest, and a sepa-
The man to whom this new Zhentarim owed fealty rate tavern, called the Rookery.
was a dark knight known only as the Pereghqst. The Some of the locals send to market bales of the thick,
Pereghost had long led the armed forces of the Zhen- rich wool they shear from their sheep. Others make a
tarim at Darkhold, and his vision for the revival of the living hawking the dandelion wine that Darkhold Vale
organization was along military lines. After a time of has always produced, but only recently begun to sell
recruitment and training, the Zhentarim emerged from abroad. The vale has a small militia, technically under
Darkhold not as conquerers or as bullying capitalists the command of the Pereghost, but which answers to a
but as mercenaries willing to serve others instead of local captain named Sulvarn.
forcing them to serve. To those who've come into conflict with the Zhen-
In the years that followed, the transformation served tarim, living in a place so firmly in their power seems
the Zhentarim well. They earned a reputation for ster- unthinkable, but the reality is that life is sedate here.
ling service, and their ranks swelled. Those who knew Certainly, the soldiers in the castle aren't to be trifled
of Darkhold thought of it as the headquarters of this new with, but they hardly ever engage in the acts of petty cru-
version of the Zhentarim. elty that one expects from warriors serving a local lord.
Membership in the Zhentarim is difficult to assess, Those who misunderstand the Zhentarim often do so
but my source told me they might have greater num- because they imagine them to be cackling villains in the
bers now than before their organization's fall. New vein of the Zhen ts of yore. In reality, they are pragmatic,
leadership for this larger group has led to a shift in willing to do whatever necessary to achieve their ends.
focus. While still a source of capable mercenaries, the But they have no need to terrorize the folk of Darkhold
Zhentarim have diversified into mercantile pursuits. Vale, for one simple reason: they already control them.
Zhent guards now ride alongside caravans of their own. In years past, these folk lived in fear and suspicion,
And whereas a military organization served it well in with a hearty helping of racial prejudice; my first visit to
the chaotic period after its fall, my source frequently Darkhold nearly a century ago was occasion for me to
described the Zhentarim as a "family" and leaders as hear some of the vilest epithets attached to my kind that
"my good friend." I've ever heard-even worse than those that fall from the
My source also spoke in awed tones of the Pereghost, foul lips of ore raiders in the North. The attitudes of the
as though that figure were still alive and a leader of vale folk have changed over the years, however, no doubt
Darkhold. The Pereghost is never seen without his full due in part to the orders of the Pereghost when he reen-
armor and a face-covering helm. If it isn't an elf behind gaged the Zhentarim with the wider world.
the mask, then I suspect a series of humans might have
masqueraded as the Pereghost during the past century.