The High Moor

A Supplement Version 1.2

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by Alex Clippinger Sample file

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Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. The High Moor: A Forgotten Realms Supplement 1 High Moor as a campaign setting, an adventure Introduction setting, or even just an interesting change of pace.

Chapter one describes the location of the High Moor, the features of its terrain and environment, Vast and unforgiving, the High Moor stands remote and its seasonal changes. It notes specific in the Western Heartlands of Faêrun. Occupying a geographic locations in the Moor and discusses region more than thirty thousand square miles in established settlements in the area around it. size, the Moor might seem too daunting for all but the hardiest of explorers. Others might focus their Chapter two discusses specific locations in the adventuring efforts on the coast, where a bustling High Moor: old ruins, dungeons, and relevant metropolis like Baldur’s Gate or Waterdeep offers structures. Some of these locations are still a somewhat safer, more political kind of adventure. occupied by dangerous foes, or have an intriguing history that Dungeon Masters can use to their The High Moor is not a place for political intrigue; it advantage when forming adventure options. is not like other potential settings like Waterdeep, where the constant bustle of city life provides Chapter three explores the animals, plants, and distinctly metropolitan adventuring opportunities. monsters of the Moor, describing how the hard life For ten thousand years, the High Moor has stood on the plateau has created interesting monster untamable. Those who have attempted to conquer behaviors or given rise to strange forms of life this place have often left their own mark on the unique to this region. Containing descriptions of region—a castle here, a township there—but all, both combatable monsters and deadly hazards, eventually, have fallen to ruin. Now the inhabitants Dungeon Masters might find the sections a useful of the heathland here do not master the dangerous jumping-off point for encounters and adventure plateau; they endure it. objectives for their players.

History and mystery, sorrow and survival. The Chapter four examines the more civilized High Moor is waiting. inhabitants of the High Moor, namely the humanoid groups that make their homes here.

Why the High Moor? Chapter five gives two player options, the From an adventuring perspective, one of the High Barbarian’s Path of the Swamp-Thrall and the Moor’s best strengths is its use as a blank Ranger’s Moorstalker. canvass. There are several distinct landmarksSample in file the Moor, any of which would make for an Chapter six revolves around giving the DM real entertaining adventure or even full campaign for an mechanical guidelines for running adventures in intrepid Dungeon Master. the High Moor, including numerous tables for wind, weather, foraging, and the like. This section also Between those points of interest, however, lies includes tables for quickly rolling up a random clan stretches of highland spanning thousands of miles. or tribe the players might encounter, with various The High Moor could be a temporary stop, the scenarios presented to jump-start quests, combat, home of some ruin or buried tomb that the party or a tense social confrontation. must raid in order to retrieve an important artifact. It could be the site of a brutal hexcrawl, where Chapter 7 is a full table of random encounters, survival is a constant struggle and danger lurks in based on terrain type. every tepid pool. The Moor can even house its own political intrigue, as clans battle back and forth Chapter 8 is the bestiary. Chapter seven contains against each other, against the elements, and the 5th edition conversions of the hazards and against the darker horrors of the Moor. monsters from years past, updating them and making them battle-ready for encounters of today. Using this Supplement This supplement is made for Dungeon Masters and their players who are thinking of using the

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. The High Moor: A Forgotten Realms Supplement 2 standing abandoned structures show the places Chapter 1 where previous would-be occupants did their best to build upon these stretches of stone. Many of the Geography of the High Moor tribes that live in the area build semi-permanent structures on or in the shelter of what stony bases, caves, and outcroppings they can find.

Location in the World As noted above, the region has a mixture of The High Moor stands in the Western Heartlands, wetlands and marshes throughout. Some areas an area of north-west Faêrun. It is approximately are particularly swampy and difficult to traverse. 200 miles south-east of Waterdeep; the town of Most of the wetlands are types of raised peat Daggerford, along the Trade Way, lies 100 miles bogs. The peat, a deposit of old decaying plant life, directly west of the westernmost ‘corner’ of the can make the ground pleasantly springy or roughly triangular-shaped moor. frustratingly spongy. The bogs are usually marked with springs, small streams, and depressed water- Boundaries of the Moor filled ponds called flarks, where the sheer accumulated weight of the peat has pushed the The Moor’s irregular-triangle-shape points ground down and allowed water to gather. southward, the bottommost point less than a hundred miles from Boareskyr Bridge. The flatter As a raised bog without forested areas, the High northern ‘top’ of the triangle shape runs east-west, Moor is often subject to wind. These winds seem bordered by the Hark River, and north beyond that all the harsher for the difficulty in finding adequate lies the Delimbiyr Vale and its multiple civilized shelter. Blustery conditions can make bow-hunting settlements. a challenging prospect for a hungry ranger.

The western edge becomes bulbous as the Moor slopes down into the edges of the Misty Forest, a Seasons home for wild elves and druids, among others. The Spring brings a thaw to the ice and snow of edge of the Moor runs parallel to the Trade Way in winter, causing wetter and swampier conditions this region, though usually tens of miles’ distance throughout the plateau. Both common beasts and away and separated by the Misty Forest. monsters become more active, and many engage in mating behavior; this tends to make them far The eastern edge of the High Moor touches close more aggressive and territorial than normal. During to the Forest of Wyrms near the moor’s southernSample thefile morning, heavy mists hang heavily over the tip, then moves northward. The shape of the moor heath and will sometimes spill over the edges of dips inward on most maps to make room for the the moor to surrounding low-lying areas. incursion of the Serpent Hills, which accounts for most of the western border of the heathland. Summer warmth and less rainfall begins to firm some of the region, making travel easier and faster for the creatures and humanoids that live here. Weather and Environment Predators of all types become more active as A moor is, generally, an open tract of land that is insects and young offspring enter the ecological pockmarked with swamps and peaty bogs. There picture, providing ample sustenance for creatures are no forests on a moor: harsh wind and weather, of a carnivorous slant. along with poor soil conditions, don’t allow more than the occasional low, twisted tree to jut above As Fall approaches, both humanoids and beasts in the heath, grasses, and brush. the High Moor become occupied with ensuring ample shelter and sustenance for the winter The High Moor in particular is seated upon a months ahead. From autumn through winter, even plateau a few hundred feet above sea level. The smaller, meeker meat-eaters might be driven to base of the upland sits on an odd mixture of attack tribesmen or travelers to improve their pinkish granite and limestone. Because there is winter stores. only a thin layer of actual soil atop this base, rocky outcroppings and shelves can be found all around the High Moor, and more than a few ruins and half-

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. The High Moor: A Forgotten Realms Supplement 3 Hark River Highstar Lake drains into the Hark River, which “You know what’s worse than a big, splashes down the Red Cliffs (see below) in a deadly bog? A big, deadly bog where series of waterfalls and rapids. The erosion of the granite here as the river swells in early spring and you can freeze to death.” later retracts has created a relatively smooth -Secomber resident ascent up to the lake and the rest of the moor beyond it.

Winter is a hard season in the Moor. Though the The Hark River curves westward, down alongside natural warmth of the ground in the bogs keeps the the northern edge, and eventually meets the snow melted for the first few weeks, soon the Delimbiyr River as a tributary. wetlands begin to freeze and large snowdrifts form on top of the plateau. Without windbreaks, the The Red Cliffs gusts during winter cut to the bone and leave even Something of a misnomer, the Red Cliffs are the hearty tribesmen at risk for exposure. Winter can name given to the pink granite that makes up the last for three to four months in this region. Most sheer face of the plateau along the northern border creatures retreat to whatever shelter they can find; of the High Moor. The rugged and rocky face any given ruin, shelf, sinkhole, or cavern is likely to presents a hard climb up to the Moor; many be occupied. Some creatures retreat into the choose to enter the High Moor from the north at reaches of the Undermoor (see below); many, Highstar Lake, or near the western end at unaware of its worst dangers, never emerge again. Secomber. Between these two points, giant eagles and other animals fiercely defend their nests and caves. Occasionally tunneling creatures, most Geographical Features often Ankhegs or Troglodytes, will break these There are a number of key locations and features cliffs from the Undermoor and see promising in the High Moor that help distinguish various prospects for nighttime hunting in the Delimbiyr areas of the region. Vale below.

Highstar Lake The people of the town of Secomber have On the eastern end of the northern edge of the historically made a decent show of mining the pink plateau sits Highstar Lake. Fifty miles wide along stone from the cliff face, though occasionally their the northern edge and up to twenty-five across,Sample the quarriesfile push too deep into the side of the plateau, lake is within walking distance from the little breaching the Undermoor and unleashing various farming village of Woodhill, which sits near the monsters on the workers and the town beyond. In plateau and just below the Southwood. The locals recent years, hobgoblin pressure on Secomber of this tiny town will occasionally make forays to has made mining an even more dangerous affair, the lake for fishing, or in hopes of harvesting local and the trade has stagnated as a result. mushrooms and other plant life. The northern lip of the lake is often clear of uncommon dangers; the The Undermoor same can’t be said of its other shores. The mixture of limestone and granite that makes up the plateau is a ready material for hollowed-out Fed by pure springs, Highstar Lake is known for its caverns, artificial tunnels made by various races, clear waters, which are so pristine that on clear and animal burrows. Many are living caves, where days an observer can almost see to the bottom of streams and springs continue to shape and erode even its greatest depths. Many claim to see vague the limestone to broaden caverns or create new shapes near these deep sections, and rumors ones. This haphazard network is dubbed the range from ruined kingdoms, merfolk palaces, and Undermoor, and is occupied by all manner of even downed airships. A small shrine to Eldath, subterranean creatures. goddess of tranquility, lies on the edge of the plateau on the lake’s northern shore. Some Undermoor denizens lair near the surface, emerging from sinkholes or other openings to prey on the surface of the High Moor at night.

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. The High Moor: A Forgotten Realms Supplement 4 Troglodytes are a common Undermoor nuisance, The aforementioned Woodhill lies below the but thankfully they rarely stay on the surface for northern edge of the plateau, a short distance from long, as sunrise would leave them disoriented and Highstar Lake. The residents are primarily farmers, vulnerable on the open moor. though some are bold enough to do some logging in the Southwood, just north of the town. The pure The Undermoor connects to the proper waters of the lake, drained into the Hark River, in some areas, and the foul monsters that stalk make the farmland surrounding the town fertile and those depths make their own forays into the more than adequate to sustain the few hundred Undermoor or the High Moor above. who makes their home here.

The Fire Marshes Loudwater In a remarkably short-sighted attempt to drive out Above the Southwood, but still within a few days’ the trolls that reside in the High Moor, a half-dwarf travel of the plateau, lies the town of Loudwater. named Daeros Dragonspear (from which Loudwater sits on the banks of the Delimbiyr River, Dragonspear Castle gets its name) attempted to also called the River Shining, and is comprised of enchant sections of the High Moor to ignite in several hundred residents within its walls and the gouts of flame. While it certainly had the desired sprawling farmlands surrounding it. effect of driving trolls away from areas of the moor, it had the unintended long-term effect of being an Loudwater is ruled by a High Lord, assisted by two unpredictable and permanent magical effect to the deputies referred to as Gauntlets. Traditionally, environment-at-large. these Gauntlets oversee the particular territory on either side of the town, referred to as the Eastern To this day, stretches of peat bog are at risk of and Western marches. being a fire marsh. Stepping in the wrong spot may unleash some of this arcane energy, causing Secomber flames to spurt up from the ground. Only quick Further west on the River Shining, beyond the reflexes can save creatures (or unwitting travelers) point where it is met by the Hark River, lies the from being scorched. The peat will continue to town of Secomber. Seated at the confluence of the burn for some time after the flames first shoot swollen Delimbiyr and the Unicorn Run flowing upward, and little fires and scorched patches of down from the High Forest to the north, Secomber ground are usually your only warning sign that you sits atop three large, rocky hills. are standing in the midst of a fire marsh. Sample Likefile Loudwater, Secomber is ruled by a local Lord. Though most beasts avoid these areas like a Unlike Loudwater, however, Secomber does not plague, creatures with an affinity for fire often find have Gauntlets as deputies; judiciary positions, their way to fire marshes. Elemental creatures, formally called Rods of Justice, are elected every including Mephits of the smoke and steam variety, four years. Between six and nine Rods serve at can be found here. Pure elementals of fire, any one time. including Salamanders, don’t linger here often, as the wet climate and cold winters don’t suit them. The town sits on the ruins of Hastarl, the capital of Devils don’t have such an issue with the varying an ancient wizard kingdom, Athalantar. Ill-advised climate, and sometimes linger around the fire excavations or overly-curious adventurers marshes as they attempt to dominate meek sometimes unleash gargoyles, undead, or other humanoid races into service. arcane oddities from the old ruins; luckily, those same adventurers are usually happy to re-bury the Nearby Settlements oddities in question.

Even as tribes and clans dot the vast stretches of Though Secomber sits on the Delimbiyr Route for bogs and other wetlands, civilized humanoid towns trade, though the destruction of most of the smaller do exist within travelling distance of the moor’s settlements to its east (with the exception of windy plateau. Woodhill and Loudwater) have dwindled the usefulness of the route. The town made a useful Woodhill trade of provisioning would-be adventurers as they

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. The High Moor: A Forgotten Realms Supplement 5 prepared to travel eastward, or south into the High of the giant king Hekaton, a stone giantess named Moor itself. Mining the Red Cliffs provided most of Kayalithica destroyed both locations. the material for the town’s modern construction and acted as a valuable commodity for trade, but Between Loudwater and Secomber once stood a recently has become difficult due to hobgoblins. small hamlet called Zelbross. By 1480 DR the citizens had abandoned the site and was occupied The Urshani tribe of hobgoblins have made their by bandits. It is unknown if the villagers originally home in nearby Mishka’s Warren, ruins named for abandoned the site because of bandits, the nearby the vicious Worg who once made her home there. Urshani hobgoblins, creatures from the High Moor, Sometime in the late 1400s DR, the Urshani or some combination of all three. hobgoblins allied with the Worgs and made their home in the ruins. Becoming almost as vicious as the wolflike creatures themselves, the Urshani dominated the tribes on the northwest corner of the High Moor and began raiding the Delimbiyr Vale. Secomber has managed to stave off rampant destruction with offerings to the Urshani tribe, though this has left the already-stagnating town more and more destitute as the years go on.

Destroyed Settlements A number of settlements lay not far from the High Moor at one time, but in recent history befell some horrible fate.

East of Loudwater lies the former site of Llorkh and Orlbar, two towns that had been under control of the Zhentarim in recent years. Llorkh sat northeast of the Southwood and approximately eighty miles from Highstar Lake. It stood near the Greypeak Mountains, at the confluence of the River Loagrann and River Greyflow. This entire area around the meeting point of these two rivers was sometimes called the Grey Highlands. Sample file

A former mining town, Llorkh was under Zhentarim control and represented to western end of their trade route, known as the Black Road, until around 1480 DR. As trade from the east dwindled, most of the citizens left Llorkh, and the city fell under the rule of a bandit king for several years before his eventual death.

Orlbar was a small shepherds’ village on the west side of the place where the Greyflow and Loagrann Rivers met. It was overlooked by a grim temple on a nearby bluff, the ill-named Fortress of the Eternal Despot, a temple to Bane.

Residents attempted to rebuild and resettle Llorkh and Orlbar after the departure of Zhent control and the death of Llorkh’s bandit king. Unfortunately for them, a clan of stone giants had different ideas. Sometime after 1485 DR, with the disappearance

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. The High Moor: A Forgotten Realms Supplement 6 Sample file There are only two things that are known to be true today. First, the Orogoth family perished in a titanic Chapter 2 battle that left the home and ground in ruins, Places of Interest almost overnight. Second, in the intervening years the ruin, now called Orzogoth, became home to a very different kind of resident. 1. Orzogoth (Orogoth) Deep in the High Moor and west of the Serpent A black dracolich, perhaps the only magical Hills, the Orogoth grounds was once home to a remnant left from the Orogoth family, made her powerful Netherese wizard family. Legends say home upon the treasure hoard of the now-perished the elders of the family were determined to Netherese mages sometime in 1370 DR. Known harness the power of dragons, and some may only as The Old One, the dracolich remained in the have succeeded in taking draconic form. Other ruin with her children Vilholin and Wastirek, and stories say that the family at Orogoth enslaved their descendants: Woklef, Cheleen, and dragons, forcing them to travel far and wide in Aswidorg. search of riches to return to the Orogoth castle. No-one is certain if the dracolich, called Calathanorgoth by some, is still there in the ruin. The treasure has never been claimed by treasure-

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. The High Moor: A Forgotten Realms Supplement 7 seekers—and most of those adventurers have lycanthropes may have escaped into the tunnels, never returned. which were rumored to be deep enough to connect to the Underdark. 2. Halls of the Hammer East of the northern end of Highstar Lake lie some 4. Mishka’s Warren of the few hills one could hope to find in the On the northwest corner of the High Moor, in a otherwise level Moor. Underneath these low place overlooking Secomber and the rest of the slopes are the ruins called the Halls of the Delimbiyr Vale below, stand ruins whose original Hammer. Built by dwarves several thousand years, purpose was forgotten long ago. the original Dwarven name of this place has been lost to history; those who have delved into its At some point, the ruins became home to a network of tunnels have described a place almost particularly savage Worg, Mishka. Mishka made city-sized in its breadth and complexity. Few linger the ruins her home and the home of her offspring, for long, as hordes of dwarf undead and violent happily feeding on the creatures of the Moor, the constructs keep most of the curious at bay. Stories Delimbiyr Vale, and the Misty Forest alike. of Helmed Horrors guarding a legendary warhammer only sound tempting when you aren’t This continued for decades until the Urshani actually fighting them. hobgoblins found the Warren, and Mishka’s descendants. As cruel as the Worgs themselves, Still, the draw of these buried tunnels has often the hobgoblins allied with the creatures and began proved too tempting for treasure-hungry pressuring the town of Secomber in earnest. The adventurers. Some particularly dedicated tomb- Urshani continue their raids to this day, dressing raiders actually built a huge lodge only a few miles themselves in wolfskins and painting the image of from the Halls of the Hammer. Thematically calling the Worgs on their banners and shields. themselves the Men of the Hammer and naming their lodge Hammer Hall with a dash of remarkable originality, the lodge still stands to this day. Weary 5. Miyeritar Towers travelers or those seeking to journey into the Halls Southwest of Highstar Lake, a large tower was of the Hammer can find safety and shelter here— discovered. While its pristine condition was a provided they don’t stumble upon something that surprise, it was nothing compared to the further has taken up occupancy in the interim. discovery that there were in fact nine of these towers in total, all forming a circle some fifty miles Sample infile diameter. Even stranger, the area encircled by 3. Dungeon of the Hark these towers is nothing like the rest of the High Once, on the northern edge of the High Moor and Moor. The land here is fertile; the bogs and overlooking the Moor River, stood the town of swamps are replaced by grasses and clean Moorsedge. Long ago, Moorsedge was springs. overwhelmed by unknown forces, likely monsters from the Moor itself. Nobody seems certain how this area came to be. Travelers who stumble across the circle find it a Sometime after the town had been reduced to welcome respite from the harsher environment in rubble, several of the buildings were restored in the rest of the High Moor. Oddly, no-one has ever the mid-1300’s DR to house a group of wererats managed to journey to the center of this region, or and other lycanthropes. Their leader, who dubbed stay there for very long. Powerful arcane storms himself the Hark after the river flowing nearby, took and terrifying illusions drive away anyone who command of a number of bandits and began attempts to linger for more than a night in this raiding travelers and caravans in the region. place, or who seek to reach the center of the disc.

The Hark and his wererat brood presumably met their end in 1372 DR when adventurers, serving 6. Rhymanthiin Loudwater and dubbed the Order of the Jade The true secret of the Miyeritar Towers is that they Blade, entered Moorsedge and the network of hide Rhymanthiin, the Hidden City of Hope. In tunnels created by the Hark’s bandits. The Hark 1374 DR, a group of powerful mages attempted to was reportedly killed, though some of his cleanse the High Moor of blight and darkness. Led

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. The High Moor: A Forgotten Realms Supplement 8