Page 87 - D&D - Player's Handbook

to organize the ogres, I don't know if any in Hartsvale took those priests and followers from the Order of
could. stand against them. the Gauntlet loyal to him and formed a new order,
swearing them in under the watchful gaze of Helm's
HELM'S HOLD still-weeping eye.
The Order of the Gilded Eye is dedicated to protecting
Helm's Hold has stood as a place of watchfulness and
the world and good people by rooting out hidden evils
protection for generations. Ever since its foundation by
and severing connections with other planes. According
the Company of Crazed Venturers, travelers have used it
to their members, it's not enough to fight threats that
as a safe place to rest and recuperate on their journeys.
arise. Many lives can be saved if the signs of evil and
Even during the dark times when Helm ceased showing
those who dabble in darkness are actively sought out
signs to his faithful, the priests and people at Helm's
and destroyed before they open the gateways to larger
Hold kept their doors open and their eyes on the road,
threats. Since its founding, the Order of the Gilded
providing refuge to any who came in peace. This outlook
Eye has grown in number and its capacity to deal with
was recently sorely tested, and I'm uncertain if Helm's
Hold passed or failed the test. threats, welcoming exorcists, abjurers, and spies, as
Even though the Watcher was destroyed just prior to well as paladins and clerics of Helm. I've even heard
the Spellplague, the faithful toiled on through terrible that assassins bear the order's symbol- Helm's eye
times to complete a grand central temple for the good upon a golden gauntlet curled into a fist-and it is a
of the community and the glory of their god. The kindly claim I can't disregard. The Order of the Gilded Eye can
clergy of this temple, dubbed the Cathedral of Helm be brutal in their pursuit of evil.
took in those who had been touched by the plague o~ Did Helm's symbol weep asJaven Tarmikos and
rendered insane by the destruction of Mystra's Weave. others have said? If it did, wasJaven's creation of this
Sadly, as all too often occurs, corruption crept into the order Helm's intention? Is the Helm that has returned
settlement, in the form of predatory creatures and male- from death different from the god whose worship was
factors who sought to experiment on the unfortunates in familiar to me in my youth? How can we mortals know?
the care of the temple Helm was ever a god of watchfulness and protection, but
In time the leadership of Helm's Hold was itself that didn't make him a just god, nor a kindly one.
corrupted, falling into the hands of a shapeshifting suc- Whatever the truth may be, know this: The Order of
cubus, who turned many monks into willing servitors. the Gilded Eye controls Helm's Hold now. If you hide
evil in your heart, or if there is the whiff of something
When her machinations were at last revealed and the
battle for Helm's Hold began, other otherworldly forces otherworldly about you, ride on. You'll find no sanc-
tuary there.
came to the fore: summoned devils, undead raised
from the very crypts of the temple, and tentacled, jel- PLACES AND PEOPLE OF THE HOLD
ly-skinned things whose origin I dare not consider. With
Helm's Hold is still a relatively small settlement: a
the aid of adventurers from nearby Neverwinter, all
handful of streets that encircle a central marketplace,
were defeated and Helm's Hold at last cleansed.
with sturdy stone-and-timber embankment walls all
the way around. In the center of town sits the Heart-
ORDER OF THE GILDED EYE
ward, a large marketplace with several rows of stalls
Among those stalwarts who saved Helm's Hold was a
radiating out from its central feature, an old gallows
member of the Order of the Gauntlet. This man was
that doesn't see much use these days. The market is
Javen Tarmikos, and seeing the horrors unleashed on
so named for the shrine to Sune that once stood along
the world in Helm's Hold, he found his own order at
its edge. That shrine has since been replaced by a
fault. The Order of the Gauntlet doesn't punish the crim-
recently constructed temple to Lady Firehair, called
inal before the crime is committed. When evil arises,
members of the order strike and strike hard, but they the Heartward Hall.
leave the ores alone in their mountains and don't disturb Not far from Heartward lies the town hall, a former
inn that has been turned into the council building where
dragons in their slumber. After Helm's Hold, Javen found
the Speakers of Helm's Hold meet. The Speakers are
this philosophy flawed. Evils unlooked for can breed in
the duly elected representatives of the hold, numbering
the shadows, growing stronger until they attack. This
eight in all, plus the Chief Speaker. The current Chief
seemed particularly true of otherworldly threats, such
as portals to fiendish realms, evil spirits that seek to Speaker is Amarandine Wanderfoot, an older halfling
possess the living, and the corrupting influences of matron who was an adventurer in her day. The Speak-
alien planes. ers work closely with the Holy Watcher to see to the
Javen says he was ruminating on this when he proper governance of the hold.
received a sign of Helm's return. In the main chapel, A short distance from the town hall lies the Ventur-
the faithful had erected a new symbol of Helm after the er's Rest, a favorite stopping-off point of adventurers
last had been desecrated. Javen says he was gazing at in the area, and of the locals who like to sit at the bar
this symbol and meditating on his order's failure when and listen to the tales such folk bring with them. The
Helm's unblinking eye wept tears of gold. Soon after, Rest was until recently called the Old Dirty Dwarf, but
uncorrupted priests of Helm's Hold, men and women was rechristened by its new owner, a winsome Chaunt-
who had remained ever watchful for Helm's return, ean paladin by the name of Kharissa Anuvien. Dame
experienced their own divine signs. In response to Kharissa claims that one of her ancestors was in the
prayers, some were even rewarded with spells. Javen Company of Crazed Venturers, associated with the