Page 98 - Serpent Kingdoms

REALMS

only as the Hall of Mists. The elves who fi rst discovered this These ants opened tunnels to the Hall of Mists for the fi rst time
ancient structure more than 13,000 years ago recognized it as in eons, and at least one adventurer—Mintiper Moonsilver—has
a fell legacy of the Iqua-Tel’Quessir (creator races). So great since explored the subterranean ruin. Word of this discovery has
was the evil contained within it that the elves summoned an fi nally reached the sarrukh of Serpentes, and at least one band
arakhor (an Elven term that translates loosely as “one who of yuan-ti adventurers has been dispatched to the far North to
protects the forest” or “tree warden”) to guard the site. This explore the site.
creature, known as the Grandfather Tree, has protected the Oreme: The ruined City of White Towers lies some 200 miles
Hall of Mists ever since. east of the Weathercote Wood, on the edge of the empty sands
Akin in some respects to elementals, the arakhora draw life, of the Frozen Sea. Once a city of artisans ruled by sarrukh wiz-
energy, and intelligence from the forests in which they dwell ards and sorcerers, Oreme was largely abandoned during the fall
and repay the debt by serving as the caretakers and guardians of Isstosseffi fi l. In the bowels of the city, however, the few dozen
of these places. Writings preserved from this era by the church sarrukh who chose to remain behind transformed themselves
of Labelas Enoreth suggest that the arakhora were a form of into liches and have clung ever since to the remnants of their
elder treant (treat as advanced elder treant)—perhaps even the empire, ruling the asabis who stayed behind to guard them. The
progenitors of the modern treants. With the exception of the rest of the asabi population from that era fl ed into the Under-
Stone Stand cutting, the Grandfather Tree is the last known dark, only to be enslaved by the phaerimms.
arakhor alive in Faerûn today. The ruins of Oreme remained unknown to the surface
Unbeknownst to anyone except the remaining sarrukh, the world for more than 30,000 years after the city’s towers had
Hall of Mists is the ancient stronghold of the Ba’etith, an or- been buried in debris from the dustbowl that had once been the
ganization that began in Isstosseffi fi l but outlasted that empire. Narrow Sea. But once the phaerimms returned to the upper Un-
The group was later dominated by the sarrukh of other realms, derdark of the Buried Realms and began to plague the Netherese,
then by the batrachi, and then by the aearee before it vanished they quickly discovered the remnants of their ancient foes. The
Illustration by Jim Pavelec Faerûn and, over thousands of years, codifi ed them in the form few surrounding caverns to the minions of the phaerimms.
during the waning Days of Thunder. The Ba’etith studied the
liches of Oreme were forced to withdraw even farther behind
primitive forms of magic practiced by the various races of
their magical wards, conceding all but the city’s catacombs and a
of the Golden Skins of the World Serpent, which were later
Regional History
known as the Nether Scrolls.
Today, the Hall of Mists is infested with a colony of giant red
ants that were spawned in the Year of the Fell Firebreak (883
During fi rst era of the Days of Thunder (more than 35,000
DR) by an eddy of magical chaos emanating from Hellgate Keep.
years ago), the reptilian sarrukh ruled over all Faerûn. Their

Battle in Anarath

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