Page 86 - D&D - Player's Handbook

to explore the North. He came back with a wife, the
sorceress Ylienna of Silverymoon, and has begun to
take on more of his father's onerous responsibilities.
There is some strife in the court, however, for the earls
don't seem to trust his "out-vale witch-bride" (a phrase
that infuriates Taumarik, but seems to gently amuse
Ylienna). For myself, I found the lady Ylienna a delight
on the one occasion when I was in her company.
The vale is well guarded, as all jewels should be- in
this case by the perils of the mountains and giant-
steads that surround it. Nonetheless, a certain strong
breed of merchant travels the narrow mountain passes
leading into Hartsvale. The dwarves of Citadel Adbar
jestingly refer to these people as "goats of coin," for
they will cling like such animals to the most precarious
of mountain ridges while seeking the opportunities
that wait beyond. My own journeys with the goats of
coin have impressed upon me the skill of these folk,
Hartsvale is far in the windswept north, a fertile who brave crumbling paths, avalanche-ridden passes,
mountain valley where the Ice Spire Mountains abut terrible howling blizzards, and monsters of all sorts to
the High Ice. The Clear Whirl River, easily the clean- reach Hartsvale and get safely out of the vale again.
est and coldest I have ever bathed in, flows south into It isn't merely the high mountains around the vale
the valley out of the lands of the Endless Blizzard, that hold dangers. Though the valley has scattered
feeding the rich soil tucked between the northern and settlements, all of Hartsvale can hardly be considered
southern arms of the Ice Spires. The river splits as it civilized. In my time traveling these lands (with one of
runs through the hilly lands, eventually draining into the few goats of coin that refused to be daunted by the
a series of lakes along the southern edge of the vale. fens around Castle Hartwick), I've found these lands
Two small woods also grow in the vale, one along its to be still frontier-like, similar to some of the wilder
northern edge, between the vale proper and the north- portions of the North, particularly in the days before
ern Ice Spires, and another fed by the lakes on its the founding of Luruar and the resettlement of Mithra!
southern edge. Hall. Fell beasts aplenty make their lairs in out-of-the-
Originally the home of giant clans and ragtag barbar- way places across the valley, and raiding bands of ogres
ian tribespeople related to the Uthgardt, Hartsvale was often come down out of the mountains.
conquered by the hero Hartkiller. He was a giant who
had ventured into the lands to the south and learned of CASTLE HARTWICK AND STAGWICK
their ways. When he came to Hartsvale, he rallied the Between two branches of the Clear Whirl River lies
human tribes, uniting them into a fighting force capa- a great island on which Hartkiller built his castle.
ble of defeating the giants who tyrannized them, and Stagwick, on the east bank of the river, is a small
they threw the giants down, claiming the vale between community of folk who work as farmers, fishers, herd-
the mountains for their descendants. ers, and artisans. These folk do a brisk business, as
Giants aplenty still dwell in Hartsvale's mountains most outland merchants choose not to journey beyond
and forested hills, but they've reached an accord with Stagwick and instead sell their wares to the Hartsvale
the humans of the vale. So far as I know, they live merchants. Perhaps a third of the merchants who jour-
peaceably distant from the human lands, and taboos ney to Hartsvale choose to undertake the trip out to
exist among both humans and giants that keep them the fiefdoms of the earls, who pay more to encourage
separate. In my time in Hartsvale, I saw no giants, but this behavior.
surely I saw their works. At the boundaries of lands
THE OGRES
where humans (and other folk smaller than giants)
may not go stand titanic menhirs, likely erected by For reasons I can't fathom, Harstvale and its sur-
stone giants. rounding mountain ranges host many tribes of
The folk of Hartsvale are ruled by House Hartwick, ogres- indeed, not mere family groups, but whole
a line of royals supposedly descended from Hartkiller. tribes of them! Whereas elsewhere ogres seem to live
Though human, House Hartwick's scions are all very like bears, near Hartsvale they act more like ores.
tall and strong, most standing seven feet in height. Thankfully the brutes are still too stupid for such com-
The king of Hartsvale sits on the Alabaster Throne in plex tasks as working metal, but from what I heard
Castle Hartwick, and the many earls of the vale's duch- in my time in the vale their culture is surprisingly
ies owe their fealty to him. sophisticated. Different tribes worship different gods,
Peace has reigned for many years in Hartsvale. Vaprak being the one I heard most about, and these
Grauman, called the Good King by his people, sits differences in religion apparently set the tribes against
the Alabaster Throne, though his years are advanced. each other. From what I heard, both the giants and the
His eldest son and heir, Taumarik, is a young ranger people of Hartsvale hate the ogres, a fact for which I'm
who has recently returned from a three-year journey sure many are grateful. If one or more giants decided

CHAPTER 2 I THE SWORD COAST AND THE NORTH
A