Lost Princess Road

The Lost Princess Road was not a true road but a series of linked portals that connected sites along the Sword Coast, Waterdeep, Tethyr, Amn, Cormyr, and the Savage Frontier. The intrepid explorer and author Volothamp Geddarm chanced upon it sometime around the Year of the Tankard, 1370 DR, probed its workings, and published his findings (after being screened by Elminster).

Description
The main hub of Lost Princess Road was Skarn Rock just off the coast near Baldur's Gate. From this point in the network, one could reach the Bridge of Fallen Men at the western edge of Cormyr, a grove of trees beside the Unicorn Run east of Secomber, the backyard of Silavene's festhall on Mount Waterdeep, and an abandoned quarry in the remote barony of Hawkhill in northeastern Amn. From the Hawkhill quarry there was one other branch of the network that connected to a seaside hill just south of the Convent of St. Rhynda in the Purple Hills of Tethyr.

The portal in the Purple Hills was likely the cause of the mysterious disappearance of Princess Darseera (within two or three decades of, but probably in the Year of the Lost Princess, &minus;261 DR) for whom a ballad was written to tell her tale. The ballad was titled "Lost Princess Road" and is how the network of portals got its name.

Skarn Rock
This barren strip of stone pounded by the waves in the Sea of Swords was only about 60 feet (18 meters) away from the cliffs of the Sword Coast a short distance north of the mouth of the River Chionthar. On the landward side of Skarn Rock were four shallow pits, barely a dozen feet (3.7 meters) above the high tide mark, in two pairs. Each pit was perhaps three feet (90 centimeters) across, two feet (60 centimeters) deep, and long enough to hold a human body. Both the north pair and the south pair were so close together that only a thin blade of stone separated them.

The four portals did not operate without the proper activation conditions. Volo discovered that standing in one pit and shedding a drop of his blood into its twin was one way to activate the magic. Elminster, in an effort to reduce unnecessary bloodletting, revealed that each portal had an activation word, and that placing one foot, or even extending a hand into a pit was enough to be teleported to the desired destination. The words of power were "Soolacz" for the Cormyrian destination (southeast pit), "Javallan" to reach the Unicorn Run (northeast pit), "Culdrin" for Mount Waterdeep (northwest pit), and "Amderro" for a jump to the Hawkhill quarry (southwest pit).

Arrival at Skarn Rock from one of the four spokes was in a pit seemingly chosen at random. Taking another portal required the person to step out of their arrival pit and then enter another (or the same one) before activation. Thus, an unfortunate individual that was bleeding was not likely to be immediately transported away again.

The gates were protected against those foolish enough to attempt to use them without complete knowledge. Saying the wrong word for the portal being activated released from one to six vampiric dread (disembodied skeletal arms that could fly and swim) that rose out of the pit and attacked until destroyed. They gained health from those they successfully struck and would follow a victim through a gate if he or she happened to trigger one correctly. In addition, the northern pair of pits had another trap laid on them. While standing in either pit, casting a spell or invoking a magic item caused the victim to experience reverse gravity until they were 80 feet (24 meters) in the air before normal gravity was restored.