Stonelands

The Stonelands were a range of desolate plains and moorlands that extended north and south of the Storm Horns mountain range, lying between the Anauroch and Cormyr. Its northern extents joined the Goblin Marches and High Moors in a narrow band of habitable lands south of the Anauroch, forming an infamous region inhabited by countless tribes and monsters of all kinds.

"Well, I suppose that's no surprise. No good has ever come from the Stonelands."

- Mage Royal Vangerdahast, 1370 DR.

Geography
The Stonelands consisted of dry plains and hills that had a harsh beauty to them, marked by knife-edged ridges, deep ravines, caverns and overhangs. The term was broadly and confusingly applied to two semi-distinct areas: the uninhabited lands of Cormyr south of the Storm Horns, encompassing the wilderness north of Eveningstar and Arabel that ran into the foothills of the Storm Horns, and the harsher hills and wastelands north of the Storm Horns that bordered on the Anauroch desert.

The southern Stonelands lay entirely within the traditional borders of Cormyr, formed of a rough plateau of broken, treacherous ground north of the High Road starting with the Stonecliff's limestone escarpment, transitioning to the granite foothills of the Storm Horns.

The northern Stonelands were what people generally referred to when they meant the Stonelands, as they were far more wild and inhospitable than the south. The eastern bounds were roughly delineated by the Moonsea Ride, though the wilderness was not really distinguished from the rolling plains of the upper Immerflow and Tilver's Gap, or the foothills of the Thunder Peaks. The northern edge of the Stonelands blended with the lower-lying Desertsedge of the Anauroch, which consisted largely of dry rocky hills. The dried-up river valley of Raudilauth divided the Stonelands from Alauthwaerd the Watcher, the southernmost peak of the Desertsmouth Mountains, and provided a passable trail into the Anauroch. The western edge merged with the Goblin Marches, further regions of bogs, hills, and broken ground, while the High Moors lay south along the foothills of the Storm Horns.

Geographical Features
The Eastern Storm Horns and Gnoll Peaks were great mountains that cut through the center of the Stonelands, and provided a natural barrier for Cormyr against threats from the north. They roughly divided the Stonelands into northern and southern halves, each with distinct regional qualities.

The northern Stonelands had poor soil consisting largely of dry clay unsuited to agriculture, but was mostly free of stones, instead named for the extraordinary rocks that protruded from the ground. These rocks varied in size from boulders to spires hundreds of feet tall, scattered haphazardly about the land with no apparent pattern. They appeared as if they had fallen with great force, with the larger ones often embedded in the ground at dangerous angles and looming threateningly over the landscape.


 * The valley of Raudilauth divided the Stonelands from the Desertsmouth Mountains to the north, and provided an accessible route into the Desertsedge of the Sword.
 * Startop Crag was a peak in the northern Stonelands just south of the High Meadows.

The southern Stonelands tended towards desolate, broken ground that rose from the Stonecliff and disappeared into the foothills of the Storm Horns. A great contrast to the low-lying fertile forests and plains of Cormyr, it comprised vast sweeping moors that were accentuated by stony tors. A great profusion of ravines, cliffs and streams broke up the terrain, making it difficult to travel across on foot and almost impossible by mount.
 * The Cave of Wickedness
 * The Cavern of Death, a cave network inhabited by the lich Asbaron.
 * The Caverns of the Claws, a notorious cave troll-hold in the Stonecliff.
 * Gnoll Pass, the main northern passage of Cormyr that cut between the Eastern Storm Horns and the Gnoll Peaks.
 * The Helmlands, a dangerous and unstable region of tar pits, wild magic and dead magic zones, named after the god Helm.
 * The Starwater River, that descended from the Storm Horns across the southern Stonelands, cutting through Starwater Gorge and the Stonecliff.
 * The Stonecliff, the steep limestone escarpment of the Stonelands' southernmost edge, broken by Starwater Gorge near Eveningstar.

Flora & Fauna
The folk of northern Cormyr feared the Stonelands as a place that all kinds of monsters poured out of to harry them, from mundane wolves to chimerae, fire lizards, and hydras. In their original state, the Stonelands and Goblin Marches were pleasant green lands inhabited by natural predators and prey. Interference by successive magical and mundane forces gradually reduced the fertility of the land and the diversity of the biome, transforming it into a barren and deadly monster-infested wasteland. By the 14 century DR, the Stonelands were on the brink of ecological collapse as humanoid tribes harvested what little remained and the dwindling biosphere became dominated by the strongest and most vicious predators.

The northern Stonelands had somewhat richer, less rocky soil than the nearby Goblin Marches, though this offered little advantage as the region was regularly struck by harsh storms and droughts. The flora largely consisted of hardy grasses, flowering weeds, prickly vines, scrub brush, mosses, lichen, and fungi. These flourished best in sheltered spots, especially in the shadows of the land's megaliths or growing upon their sides. Trees were uncommon and mostly grew around the edges of permanent streams and lakes, with their size severely curtailed by the harsh storms and unforgiving climate.

The natural fauna of the region was based on herds of antelope, deer, oxen, and sheep that fed on the grasses, along with great flocks of birds and many other smaller animals such as badgers, foxes, and rabbits. These were preyed upon by bears, wolves, eagles, and giant owls, with rarer giant spiders and firedrakes acting as apex predators. This balance was broken by constant pressure put upon the land, from the magical influences of Netheril to the short-sighted hunting of goblinoid tribes, causing these creatures to largely die out or migrate away by the 14 century DR.

The remaining herbivores tended towards their dire cousins, including dire badgers, porcupines, and skunks, as well as megafauna such as titanotheres, axebeaks, balucitherium, phororhacos, and woolly rhinoceros. New dominant predators of the land joined the resilient giant spiders and firedrakes, including behirs, chimerae, perytons, and hieracosphinxes, which took over caves and ruins for lairs and hunted the goblins and orcs who had depleted the land of other prey.

A few varieties of dinosaur lived within the Stonelands, though all were small ostrich-sized species. These included deinonychus, fleshrakers, swindlespitters, and velociraptors. All of these species hibernated in deep rifts near earth nodes and volcanic flows. They were never known to race along the heights of the Stonelands or ventured far from the region, as they feared being eaten by dragons, dark horrors, or Zhent foulwings.

Wolves were especially prevalent in the southern Stonelands, and harsh winters in northern Cormyr were called "wolf winters" for the packs that came down the Stonecliff to hunt. Wyverns were once far more common in the region, but by the 14 century DR they had become rare, with their tails sought after as a delicacy in Cormyr.

Climate
"In the summer, if you are not too hot, you're cold and wet. In the winter, you're just cold."

- Orcish commentary on the climate.

The northern Stonelands near the Anauroch were marked by a harsh, unforgiving climate, variously attributed to the nearby Storm Horns and Desertsedge Mountains, the Anauroch desert, and ancient Netherese magic run amok. Humidity, temperature, and precipitation fluctuated wildly throughout the year, regularly causing local flooding and droughts, as well as occasional hot winters and cold summers.

Summers were generally blazingly hot and humid, punctuated by swift and sudden thunderstorms that lashed the land with torrential rain, hail, and continuous lightning strikes before disappearing. The land did not retain water well despite the heavy rain, so the water quickly drained and flowed north into the Anauroch. Winters tended to be cold, windy and dry, with flurries of powdery snow that blew about like dust and rarely piled up. Autumn and spring were transitory periods which were less dry than winter and cooler than summer, providing brief respites. Thanks to the harshness of the climate, the landscape was largely unchanging throughout the year with only a short green period in spring before the sun baked the land brown again.

The thunderstorms sometimes took on an unnatural aspect, on average once every three years, presumed to be the lingering results of ancient magical experiments or battles. On these rare occasions it could rain fire, enormous icicle-like hailstones, or acid, potentially wiping out flora and fauna over miles of ground. On even rarer occasions, there were "storms" of antimagic, which drained the powers of exposed magical items caught in them, as well as storms of wild magic which could spontaneously generate magical items, mutate and transform creatures, or cause any other conceivable (or inconceivable) effect.

In contrast, the southern Stonelands were relatively mild. They were usually wreathed in mists that were blown away by the high winds accompanying frequent storms.

Government
Although Cormyr claimed the Stonelands as part of its territory, it could not control it beyond where its soldiers marched. The northern extents were an especially inhospitable place for "civilized" humanoids and was home to potentially hundreds of independent tribes of orcs, goblinoids, and other creatures. Cormyr's monarchs long offered generous rewards for those who could establish and maintain settlements in the region.

The Zhentarim kept a level of influence in the region, hiring or bribing the local tribes and groups to avoid attacks, and directing them against Cormyrean settlements and routes.

Trade
The southern Stonelands were used by Cormyrean prospectors, game hunters, treasure-seekers and ranchers who could make a living from the wilderness. Arabel was the primary base of operations for these ventures, lending the big city a frontier feeling, with Eveningstar also serving as a gateway. Following the annexation of Tilverton, many of these frontier folk moved on to new opportunities that arose in the northern Stonelands and Tilver's Gap. The area around Gnoll Pass was home to extensive coal mining operations, with bell pits common north of Arabel.

History
The southern frontier of Netheril received relatively little attention, as their efforts were directed more towards the west. In -1286 DR the Netherese founded the outpost of Blister in the northern Thunder Peaks, using it as a forward base for exploring and conquering the lands to the south. This intrusion was met by continual raids and skirmishes by local orcs, kobolds, and goblinoids, who were unable to directly strike at the heavily-fortified outpost. At the time, the land was wooded, part of the forests that covered what would become Cormyr. Blister managed to resist a surprise attack by phaerimm in -442 DR with heavy losses, and the outpost survived until -312 DR, 27 years after Karsus's Folly, when it was destroyed and looted by kobolds.

Legends told that the great rock formations in the northern Stonelands were created circa when the Netherese survivor states of Asram and Anauria attacked a realm that existed in the clouds of the region called Avaeraether, in order to escape the encroachment of the ever-expanding Anauroch desert on their kingdoms. The castles built among the clouds crashed down to the earth, creating the unique stone formations after which it was named.

In the, in the midst of Netheril's decline and the spread of the Anauroch, the Great Hlundadim rallied goblins, hobgoblins, gnolls, orcs, and kobolds into a great nation called Hlundadim. They proceeded to dominate the Windy Plains, Goblin Marches and Stonelands, and raided their neighbors fiercely, destroying Tarkhaldale in -87 DR and Anauria in 111 DR. They invaded a young Cormyr in 198 DR and razed Arabel, but were defeated by King Moriann Obarskyr in 200 DR.

The realm was destroyed in the when great dust storms and desertification struck the Windy Plains, absorbing it into the Anauroch. The Great Hlundadim disappeared and his former subjects fled south, disintegrating into warring bands. Although they eventually returned and rebuilt, the realm was forever broken. A second wave of desertification in 1038 DR brought the Anauroch south again to the edge of the Stonelands and Goblin Marches, destroying much of what had been rebuilt and drying out the local climate further. Hundreds of thousands of goblins, orcs, and other victims of the environmental catastrophe rallied under the warlord Izac Uthor in 1090 DR and marched west, intending to conquer the whole of the North, only to be destroyed in a huge battle at what would become known as the Battle of Bones.

The 12 century DR saw the rise of the bandit warlord Rivior, who built a large keep and extensive underground fortifications in the southern Stonelands. He was defeated and killed by Queen Enchara of Esparin, whose realm was also built in the Stonelands. Queen Enchara went on to marry Prince Palaghard Obarskyr I in 1162 DR, resulting in the union of Cormyr and Esparin into a single realm.

The constant threat from the Stonelands resulted in the construction of Castle Crag in Gnoll Pass beginning around 1347 DR, which remained under construction for at least a decade onwards. It went on to become a major strongpoint and garrison for Cormyr's border, effectively halting raiders from entering Cormyr proper from the north.

In 1352 DR, Gondegal's war spread into the Stonelands as he engaged in hit-and-run strikes on Cormyrean forces. One such unit, the Twilight Brigade, razed the village of Darkenshield and slaughtered the inhabitants. At the same time, the Starburst Swords Purple Dragons sought to avoid combat with the Twilight Brigade, only to be ambushed by trolls and devoured. The inhabitants of the then-unruined nearby Tower of Ruin refused to aid them, resulting in both groups being shunned by Torm and facing judgment for their cowardice.

The bandit lord Jhassilm Onespear held a citadel in the Stonelands, before it was stormed by the mercenary Brandon some time before 1356 DR.

In 1356 DR, aggression by orcish tribes, Lashan Aumersair, and Zhentil Keep resulted in Cormyr preemptively annexing Tilverton, securing the whole eastern edge of the Stonelands. Purple Dragons were then able to patrol in force to Tilver's Gap and beyond, severely curtailing the Zhentarim's operations in the region and the ability of others to raid at will.

By the, Lord Vorik Aris had accrued an army of mercenaries and secured Wyvernwatch Castle, planning on using them to raid the border regions of Cormyr in preparation for a larger campaign that would see him crowned King. He marched on the ruins of Darkenshield, but his forces were destroyed by a group of adventurers who summoned the vengeful spirits of the residents and the duty-bound Starburst Swords, ending his ambitions.

Also in 1369 DR, Princess Alusair was operating in the Stonelands, commanding a troop of twenty-four young noble knights pursuing a bold orc band that had raided a caravan east of Eveningstar. In six days of pursuit, they'd killed a hydra, a fire lizard, and three chimeras. North of Startop Peak, the knights impetuously pursued the orcs into an ambush, and a few were killed. Alusair rallied her forces to defeat the orcs, before deducing they served a dark naga and the Zhentarim, who had been charming and transporting monsters into the area. They defeated the naga and destroyed the gate before it could disgorge another monster. Alusair and the knights resolved to seek out and destroy the other gates.

Notable Locations

 * Fortifications
 * Border Outpost, a typical Cormyrean outpost north of Arabel.
 * Castle Crag, a great fortress of the Purple Dragons that guarded the Gnoll Pass.
 * Castle Kilgrave, a fortress that briefly served as home for the avatar of Bane.
 * Castle Nacacia, a fort in the foothills of the Desertsmouth Mountains.
 * Neidlig Citadel, an ancient fortress on the borderlands of the High Moors and Goblin Marches used by the Neidlig tribe.
 * Wyvernwatch Castle, a fortified tower that was controlled by Lord Vorik Aris.


 * Landmarks
 * Ironguard, an old, shallow tomb.
 * The Laughing Head, a mysterious stone marker.
 * Warrior's Crypt, a nigh-mythical place that drew countless treasure-hunters to the region, but secretly used as a Zhentarim base.
 * Whisper's Crypt, a small underground Zhentarim base connected to the Haunted Halls.


 * Roads
 * The Long Road to Riches, a circuitous caravan route through the Stonelands that the Zhentarim operated.
 * The Moonsea Ride, a major road that skirted around the edge of the Stonelands as it passed from Arabel to the Dalelands and Moonsea, heading through Tilver's Gap to the east.
 * The North Ride, a major road that climbed down from the Shadow Gap and intersected with the Moonsea Ride at Tilverton.
 * The Stonebolt Trail, a trail that split from the Moonsea Ride in Gnoll Pass and ran parallel with it across the Stonelands, converging with the North Ride at Shadow Gap.


 * Settlements
 * Big Bone Deep, the fortress home of the fearsome Spleen Eaters tribe of orcs.
 * Griffon Hill, a tiny village along the Stonebolt Trail.
 * Halfhap, a fortified town that acted as a base for the Purple Dragons.
 * Redspring, a village south of the Storm Horns.
 * Teerac-on-Water, a goblin village of the Teerac on a lake bordering the Goblin Marches.

The northern Stonelands were littered with the ruins of old settlements and fortifications, most of which came from the Netherese realms of Anauria and Asram, as well as some of Hlundadim. Later ruins came from successive waves of explorers and colonizers who then fell to the perils of the Stonelands, combining to give the Stonelands a high density of ruined structures. Regardless of the origin, the ruins were used as homes and hideouts for tribes and gangs, as well as lairs for monsters. The known ruins were poor prospects for treasure hunters by the 14 century DR, as they had long been picked clean and only contained dangerous residents.
 * Ruins & Dungeons
 * Avaeraether, the Cloudlands, were said to have floated above the Stonelands, and the ruins of its stone structures became the rough and broken terrain.
 * Darkenshield, a village along the Stonebolt Trail destroyed by Gondegal's forces.
 * The Tower of Ruin, a cursed heap of rubble.

The southern Stonelands were home to a number of old ruins, many built by those who sought to take land on the poorly-controlled borderlands of Cormyr. The Stonecliff in particular had a preponderance of abandoned wizard's abodes in caves or crumbling towers, drawing forth a regular stream of treasure-hunters seeking magical riches.
 * Barrenstone, the home of the lich Adzerak.
 * The Forgotten Keep, an ancient ruined Netherese watchtower.
 * Rivior's Keep and the Haunted Halls, ruined fortifications of the warlord Rivior.
 * Slingdyke and the Slingdyke Arms, a former Purple Dragons hillfort and ruined inn.

Humanoids
"How many goblins does it take to break through a siege wall? One hundred. Ninety-nine to soak up the boiling oil, and one to tunnel underneath."

- The Purple Dragons' Goblin Joke Scroll.

The northern Stonelands were most famously home to dozens of tribes of orcs, goblins, and hobgoblins. These tribes included the Colchar, Fenlis, Marrowdrinkers, Neidlig, and Teerac, and shared a common origin with those of the Goblin Marches and High Moors from the ancient realm of Hlundadim. The martial legacy of Hlundadim granted many of these groups a level of technical and strategic expertise that belied their primitive circumstances, while the legends of the realm's supremacy inspired them to rebuild and expand their lands, driving an aggression that would not have been present otherwise. The various races frequently hired each other as mercenaries or cohabited with each other, with monoracial tribes and settlements quite uncommon.

The goblin tribes tended to raise and live alongside wolves, dire wolves, and worgs, treating them not as pets but as family members. They kept slaves that were mostly goblins with a minority of other humanoids, though humans usually died rapidly from the poor living conditions and forced labor. Their settlements tended to be caves and old structures that they expanded with tunnelling, improving on the defenses with traps and cunning architecture learned in Hlundadim. Hobgoblins were once much more common, but declined significantly since the Battle of Bones and often lived as part of other tribes.

Orcish tribes were fairly common in the region, living in fortified wooden villages. They subsisted off hunting and farming, and mined iron that they used to forge their own tools, weapons, and armor. Their villages were usually home to other humanoids and giantkin as well, having them as martial reinforcements and marital prospects.

Kobolds and bugbears were quite rare in the region, preferring to live deeper in the Underdark and avoid trouble on the surface unless a profitable opportunity arose. Gnolls generally lived apart from all other peoples and were mostly found in unsettled tribes in the eastern Stonelands, led by flinds and accompanied by domesticated hyaenodons. They had a particular hatred for stone giants, who they believed slew the legendary gnoll Grrat and forever doomed them to insignificance. Wemics made up a small but notable population in the Stonelands, using stone and wood tools and migrating about in nomadic prides. Small groups of medusae and doppelgangers also made their homes in the hidden cave systems of the Stonelands, largely content to avoid notice by others.

More than a few human bandit gangs and malevolent wizards made their homes in the forbidding wasteland, and the Zhentarim often had agents in the region to spy, parley, or trade with the locals. The Zhentarim ran the Long Road to Riches around the edge of the Anauroch and made influencing the locals a priority, using diplomacy and bribery to ensure safety for their interests while directing aggression towards Cormyr and the Dalelands. They went so far as to use mind-controlled doppelgangers to take over entire tribes and raider groups, directing them towards specific goals without apparent outside influence. In the southern Stonelands, they had numerous agents in place who used ruins and caves to hide from Cormyrean forces, and performed patrols of their own on flying beasts, sometimes directly over Eveningstar. These operations began disintegrating in the mid-14 century DR after Cormyr annexed Tilverton and the Purple Dragons were able to aggressively patrol more land.

Although it was normal for the inhabitants of the Stonelands to occasionally raid trade routes and settlements, some groups focused on this as their only occupation. These "border raiders" were highly aggressive and well-organized, striking regularly at humans in Cormyr and the Dales, elves in the Cormanthor, and dwarves in the Desertsmouth Mountains. They almost always contained multiple types of creature who fulfilled different specialities and offset each other's weaknesses, including any combination of goblinoids, orcs, giantkin, kobolds, and more. Most of these border raider groups were secretly controlled by the great red wyrm Grinnsira, who used her mastery of charm magic and a vast spy network to control her minions and ensure they performed well against their targets. She was actively opposed in these schemes by the silver dragon Fi Lendicol, and unwittingly sabotaged by the Zhentarim, who bribed her minions in unproductive directions or secretly replaced them with doppelgangers.

Giants & Dragons
Giantkin were not uncommon in the Stonelands, with many ettins and ogres finding work as warriors with tribes of humanoids or giants, with the ogres usually bullying and mistreating their orc or goblin employers. Despite this, the combination of ogres and orcs led to a growing population of ogrillons that were treated especially favorably by their orcish kin. Ettins got along well enough with the smaller creatures they met, and never enslaved them. Instead, they hired goblins and orcs as guards, hunters, or builders to improve their homes, and paid them generously in treasure. Trolls were rarer and normally lived in the Underdark, only coming up for profitable long-term work or opportunistic raids.

Small tribes of hill giants were common across the region, often working as mercenaries for humanoid tribes, and sometimes taking over if the idea struck them. Stone giants normally lived in the nearby mountains, but were also seen traveling through the Stonelands for unknown reasons. Cloud giants and storm giants were also seen more rarely on the ground, either gathering food or trading, with the two kinds working together amicably and keeping giant eagles as pets and rocs as mounts. They were believed to live in the Storm Horns to the south, as well as in Avaeraether, if it even existed.

Dragons were seen to lair or hunt in the region, with red dragons most common, and generally occupied with terrorizing victims (goblins) and avoiding those who could fight back (giants). Copper, amethyst and silver dragons were also seen in the region, usually for inscrutable reasons.

Notable Inhabitants

 * Emperel Ruousk, an adventurer from Mistledale who guarded the tomb of the Lords Who Sleep.
 * Fi Lendicol, a silver dragon who opposed Grinnsira and travelled with Dreik Lorne and Thurn.
 * Grinnsira, an ancient red dragon that controlled numerous raider groups.
 * Jhassilm Onespear, a bandit who had a citadel in the Stonelands.
 * Maris Khorma Terrabin, a wizard and explorer who specialized in the Stonelands.
 * Thiombar, an adventurer of the Fair Fortune Freeswords company who briefly tamed the Stonelands.
 * Lord Vorik Aris, a traitorous Cormyrean noble who raised and led a small army in the Stonelands, based in Wyvernwatch Castle.

Rumors

 * Cloud giants, storm giants, silver dragons and mist dragons were believed to make their homes in the remnants of Avaeraether.
 * A border raider group found an ancient intact war galleon in the Stonelands around 1367 DR, leading to speculation that it had been used by Asram to assault the Cloudlands, or that it could fly to other worlds.
 * Around 1367 DR, a captured raider orc claimed that the orcs and goblins of the Stonelands were close to uniting into a great army again.
 * Large amounts of undead began appearing around 1367 DR with no apparent origin, sparking claims that the Zhentarim were raising them as an army, or some ancient dead realm had awoken on its own accord.