Darkenshield

Darkenshield was a small Cormyrean village in the Stonelands which was destroyed by the forces of the Lost King Gondegal in 1352 DR. The symbol of the village was a black shield with a white star in the upper left corner, set on a blue field.

Geography
Darkenshield was located on the edge of the Stonelands about west of Halfhap and the Moonsea Ride, and about  north of the Storm Horns and Wyvernwatch Castle along the Stonebolt Trail. The land around it consisted of dry, desolate plains punctuated by hillocks and copses of trees.

Places of Interest

 * The Safe Haven was a two-story inn and stable which was reduced to a one-story ruin. The twelve-year-old stableboy was killed defending the horses from the raiders. The inn was subsequently inhabited by a roving band of ogres.
 * A 3-story defensive tower was the sole proper fortification in the village, and was partially destroyed. It was then nested in by a group of harpies.
 * The alchemist Olin Foolsgold had a shop in the village that remained mostly intact. Before his death, he wrote down the Formula For Vengeance, a ritual that would bring a kind of justice to the perpetrators of a crime.
 * The Village Meet was a large, barnlike structure that served as a town hall. 34 adults and 11 children took shelter in the hall when the village was attacked, and Olin Foolsgold provided a poison that painlessly euthanized the very old and young. The remainder took up weapons and died fighting the invaders.
 * The mayor's house was a sturdy two-story stone structure, and survived the raid and abandonment largely intact. It became inhabited by a gang of 40 kobolds that were looking for work with Lord Vorik Aris.
 * The shrine of Tyr was shattered by the fury of the battle that took place there, the inside filled with bloodstains and desecrated holy objects. Four acolytes of Tyr died defending three halflings that had taken shelter in the shrine.

History
During Gondegal's war against Cormyr in 1352 DR, the Starburst Swords unit of Purple Dragons marched through the Stonelands and chose to avoid an easily winnable battle with the Twilight Brigade, a unit of Gondegal's forces. The Twilight Brigade went on to attack Darkenshield and easily overwhelmed its militia, razing it to the ground and slaughtering the entire population. The spirits of Darkenshield's residents were bound to the ruins by the outrage of their deaths, unable to pass on while their killers lived. The Starburst Swords went on to be attacked by a gang of trolls below the Tower of Ruin, with not a one surviving, and their spirits were also trapped by the shame of their dereliction of duty.

In 1369 DR, Lord Vorik Aris built up a fortified base nearby at Wyvernwatch Castle and made preparations for making war on Cormyr like Gondegal had. Among his soldiers he recruited the surviving 32 Twilight Brigade members, and made one of them, Tobias Querl, the Captain of the guard of Wyvernwatch. At the same time, the bard Mendryll Belarod caught wind of exciting rumors of ghosts and crumbled towers, and sent a group of adventurers to investigate the old battle sites with the assistance of an old rhyme he had come across. They explored the area and uncovered the history of what had really happened, also discovering the plans Lord Aris had for occupying Darkenshield and using it as a base of operations of aggressive raids throughout the region.

After realising the severity of the situation, Mendryll met up again with the adventurers at Darkenshield with Rhyn Mournsoul in tow. Together they performed the ritual of vengeance Olin Foolsgold had left behind, as well as a second ritual contained in the old rhyme that used the Four from Cormyr and allowed the Starburst Swords another chance to perform their duty of defending the village. When the second battle of Darkenshield began, the Twilight Brigade was specially targeted by the ghosts of Darkenshield and destroyed completely, while Lord Aris and his lieutenants Gribbergrash, Tanatha, and Ratakos were either killed or driven away in retreat.

The battle ended with Lord Aris' army destroyed, and his ambitions of conquering Cormyr severely set back. With the great injustice righted, the folk of Darkenshield were finally laid to rest and passed to the City of Judgment, while the spirits of the Starburst Swords finally fulfilled their duties and passed to Torm's domain.

Rumors

 * One of Lord Aris' lieutenants suspected that he intended to perform a magical ritual in the ruins of Darkenshield that would aid his military operations.
 * It was believed that the Starburst Swords were beset by trolls as a divine punishment by Torm.