Vigilant Riders

The Vigilant Riders was a military organization dedicated to Helm that patrolled the roads of the Sword Coast and surrounding Western Heartlands for a time during the mid—13 century DR. They were founded by the Helmite priest Garshond, who envisioned an elite order of disciplined guardians that would ensure safe journey across the Realms.

Organization
The order was backed both financially and with membership by attendees of the Council of Helm.

Activities
The Riders watched over and regularly patrolled the stretch of the Trade Way between Waterdeep and Baldur's Gate, the Dusk Road that linked Elturel with Iriaebor, and the many smaller roadways that linked smaller towns and villages between.

Base of Operations
They were headquartered within the Watchtower of the Vigilant in Harkstag.

Possessions
For a time the Riders remained in possession of the Helm of Helm.

History
Garshond established the Vigilant Riders some time after his famous victory in defense of Iriaebor in the.

The Riders' efforts to keep safe the Heartlands drew the attention of local bandits as well as goblin and orc tribes in the region. In the, these forces banded together and delivered a decisive blow against the Vigilant Riders in the Battle of Skull Hill. They earned another victory the following year in the Battle of Scattershields. Finally in the, the Vigilant riders were defeated and their founder Garshond was slain in the Battle of Ghost River. In the years that followed, this series of conflicts came to be known as Garshond's War.

The order's home of Harkstag was destroyed a decade later by a flight of green dragons that laired within the Forest of Wyrms. By the late 14 century DR, the Watchtower of the Vigilant was then taken over by the yuan-ti of Najare.