Ruathym

The island of Ruathym (ROO-uh-Thim) is one of the larger islands north of the Moonshae Isles in the Trackless Sea.

History
Supposedly one of the islands left above water after The Sundering and originally called Arauwurbarak, the dwarves of Haunghdannar built a stone fortress they named Rethgaard on the island to serve as a naval base some time around -4600 DR. Less than three centuries after that realm fell, human mariners from across the Trackless Sea arrived and set up a colony on the island, which they called Ruathym. Many of these mariners continued their journey north and east, leading to the proliferation of the Illuskan people on the mainland of Faerûn but some decided to stay, creating a tribal kingdom on the island that lasted in peace for three millennia. Unfortunately, their numbers came to outweigh the resources that the rocky island could provide. To avoid fighting between the four tribal factions, many ships were sent from Ruathym laden with colonists who went on to found settlements on the other islands in the Trackless Sea as well as on the mainland.

And so the people of Ruathym endured, taking what they needed from the sea and neighbouring islands then raiding the Sword Coast or the Moonshaes for everything else. They were a barbaric people, seemingly constantly on the cusp of descending into true barbarism. However, in their raids they sometimes acquired powerful magic items. A collection of magical tomes was stored in the royal library known as the Green Rooms. One of these books, the Tome of the Unicorn, was stolen by a calishite mage called Shond Tharovin in 1356 DR. Ignorant of the true culprit, the last foreign ship to leave the island - a caravel from Luskan - was attacked and sunk. In response, Luskan declared war on Ruathym. The Luskanites destroyed Ruathyms fleet and landed troops on the island.

Luskan/Ruathym War
With help from the Holgerstead tribe, First Axe Ulphron Lithyl's forces managed to drive the Luskanites back into the sea after a few months of warfare. Luskan attacked again however the following year. This time they were much more successful, managing to conquer the entire realm save for scattered pockets of resistance. It was at this time that Aumark Lithyl, Ulphron's son and a member of the famous Knights of Myth Drannor, returned home. After his father died in battle just before the winter storms set in, he managed to unite the four tribes of Ruathym under his banner. Before the year was out, the Lords' Alliance threatened war against both sides unless they came to an accord. Realising that Luskan and the northlander island realms had more in common than any other coastal city, Ruathym, Luskan, the Whalebones and Tuern declared an alliance called the Captain's Confederation the following summer and began raiding shipping and coastal settlements up and down the Sword Coast in concert.

After the War
Later in the year, much destruction was caused on the island when the avatars of Labelas Enoreth and Clangeddin Silverbeard fought each other there.

Four years after that, the Captain's Confederation was dissolved when Luskan conquered Ruathym a second time. Again, Luskan was threatened with war by Waterdeep and again, Luskan withdrew its forces.

A year later, the mind flayer Vestress, self-proclaimed Regent of Ascarle, sent a merrow army against Ruathym but the northmen managed to repel them.

Neverwinter Nights 2
A third war was instigated between Luskan and Ruathym when Black Garius sent men to steal the Tome of Iltkazar From the Green Rooms in 1374 DR.

Geography
Ruathym was generally a rocky, ugly-looking island, barely 100 miles long from north to south and not even half that wide at its widest point. Its coast was pockmarked with deep fjords and dotted by clear bays with the exception of the south coast which boasted white, sandy beaches. Some impressive stands of pine grew on the island, surviving only thanks to the preservation effort of the First Axe of Ruathym. Farms and a few small villages occupied the majority of the landscape but a couple of areas were left wild. A spine of tall rocks ran down the middle of the island which were occasionally snow-capped.

Sites of Interest

 * Ruathym The name of the largest settlement was confusingly named after the island itself. A town of about 5000 inhabitants, this was the seat of Aumark Lithyl and his descendents after the Luskan/Ruathym war. The famous Green Rooms library of magical books was located here. It was also where you could find the only true temple on the island - the Hall of Black Waves which, although a proper temple, was still run by a tribalistic shaman named Uther Jeroggean in 1358 DR.
 * Holgerstead Known for its berzerker warriors.
 * Rethgaard The ancient dwarven naval base still stood nearly 6000 years after it was originally built. Until Aumark Lithyl's efforts to unite the tribes, Rethgaard's inhabitants were somewhat antagonistic of Ruathym.
 * Ithnar The ruins of a fortress located 35 miles south of Rethgaard. The place is avoided by all sailors who know of it thanks to a northlander legend that says a shaft within leads straight down to hell. Certainly the strange green lights that shine from these ruins at night don't encourage naysayers to the story.

Environment
As an island in a subarctic climate, the sea played a large role in the environment. 8 months of the year, Ruathym experienced wintry temperatures with fog that clung to the island until quite late in the day (if it left at all). Seas were often stormy and waves pummelled the coast mercilessly when they flew in. During the winter itself, the sea froze all around the island and by Alturiak the ice could reach out a mile from land. On clear days in summer though, the sun could bake the southern beaches.

Economy
Ruathym had little to trade although a few merchants in Ruathym became very rich selling magic items acquired by raiding parties and, rarely, dug up from the ground. Industries were restricted to hunting seals and whales, farming and ship-building due to the lack of natural resources on the island – though northlander dragonships were some of the fastest boats to sail the Trackless Sea – the making of which was a skill passed down from thousands of years of tradition. Most of the islands income came from raiding minor or independent vessels plying their trade along the Sword Coast. Ruathym raiders were known to operate from the Sea of Moving Ice all the way down to Calimshan and occasionally to Nimbral. Though such efforts obviously suffered when Luskan destroyed their ships during the wars.

Culture
An unnamed Waterdhavian mercenary recruiter once described the people of Ruathym as "two steps up from barbarians" and with the possible exception of First Axe Lithyl, this would be a very good description of them. After all, out of Ruathym came Uthgar Gardolfsson, the father of the various Uthgardt barbarian tribes, the Reghedmen barbarians of Icewind Dale and the barbarians of Dambrath. However, the island also spawned many of the civilised settlements of the Sword Coast as well as the runecasters known as the Rus so they do have the potential for greater things. They are an ancient, unpredictable people.