Circle of Thunder

The Circle of Thunder was a ring of large standing stones atop a hill located in Neverwinter Wood. In the late 15 century DR, it was occupied by the hermetic anchorites of Talos and used for their rituals in honor of Talos, the god of storms.

Description
The Circle sat atop a tall hill covered in trees. The ring itself was made up of eight stone arches, formed by tall menhirs topped with stone slabs  thick and  long. There was no altar within the circle, but instead a cleared area used for ritual dancing. Just outside of the ring were concealed trap doors leading down into the caves beneath the hill.

There were three caves dug out of the hillside. Each cave entrance was buttressed with large stone monolith frames and adorned with crude carvings. Behind makeshift doors were earthen tunnels decorated with boar skulls and gruesome totems. The anchorites used much of the tunnel space for animal pens in which they kept domestic boars, used for garbage disposal, as well as animals destined for sacrifice to their god, most commonly deer. The hermits also lived in these caves, having no furnishings and only crude cookware made of wood and clay.

Geography
The Circle of Thunder was located in the southwestern reaches of Neverwinter Wood, about from the eastern edge of the forest near the Starmetal Hills.

History
As of the late 15 century DR, the Circle of Thunder was occupied by the anchorites of Talos, a group of savage half-orc wereboars dedicated to the worship of Talos and his servant, Gorthok the Thunder Boar. The anchorites used the stone ring to make blood sacrifices and to focus their ritual magic in order to summon Gorthok or to conjure storms.

The anchorites defended the Circle by patrolling the area and seeding the surrounding forest with gruesome totems made from still-beating pig hearts. These totems could cause cursed tree roots to lash out at intruders.

When the white dragon Cryovain arrived in the Sword Coast North and claimed Icespire Hold in the Sword Mountains as his lair, the orcs who had previously lived there fled, with many seeking counsel from the anchorites. These orcs fell under the sway of the hermits, and helped to patrol the area around the Circle and to harass other inhabitants of the woods, including local hunters from Neverwinter at Falcon's hunting lodge. They eventually drove off a local centaur named Xanth, who began seeking out adventurers to eradicate the anchorites and orcs at the Circle.

Inhabitants
In the late 15 century DR, there were three anchorites of Talos who made their homes at the Circle: Flenz, Narux, and Yargath. These half-orcs would take it in turn to perform their dark rites atop the hill, to patrol the perimeter, and to forage for food, mostly including venison, berries, and herbs. In addition, the site served as a home to servants of the anchorites, which at various times included orcs as well as blights grown by a fellow anchorite named Grannoc at a ruined mansion to the south.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Dragon of Icespire Peak