Vaasa

Vaasa was an isolated and untamed land located in the Cold Lands of northeast Faerûn. It was the seat of power for the famed Zhengyi the Witch-King in the mid 14 century DR, and it was ruled by the Warlock Knights of Vaasa as of the late 15 Century DR.

Description
Vaasa was a relatively empty and inhospitable land of frozen moors and open tundra, with sporadic farms and the occasional wandering monster. It was always cold, with the winters bringing deep freezes and the summers bringing frigid waters from the melting ice that turned much of the tundra into mud. As a result of this harsh environment, the Vaasan people were known to be a tough and close-knit folk who were unashamed to rely on everything and everyone they could to help them survive.

Geography
Vaasa was the westernmost realm of the so-called Cold Lands. It was bordered on the north by the Great Glacier and surrounded on the south by the arc of the Galena and West Galena Mountains. Bloodstone Pass allowed access through the Galenas to Damara in the east, and these two nations were collectively known as the Bloodstone Lands. The West Galenas separated Vaasa from the lands of the Moonsea North to the west and the from the Moonsea itself to the south.

Most folk who settled in Vaasa did so in the Sunderland region in the southeast where they had access to both the gem and metal rich Galena Mountains as well as workable soil for raising crops and livestock. This region was dominated by the towns of Darmshall and Maur-Eturo. As of the late 15 century DR, much of the remainder of the population lived in the city of Palischuk in the Ostraland region to the northeast or in the city of Telos in the central highlands.

Geographical Features
Vaasa was a realm of tundra, taking the form of moorlands in the west, wasteland in the north, and plains in the south.

Every summer, the Great Glacier continued its retreat, inundating the tundra with icemelt and turning the land into mud, especially in the western moors where the Bottomless Bogs formed. This morass of muddy swampland was seasonal during the 14 century DR, but over the decades it became a permanent feature of the landscape. What icemelt had not seeped into the mud found its way into the Beaumaris River, which meandered from the Bogs through the central highlands at the bottom of a great gorge, known as the Clefts of Razack, before arriving in the eastern lowlands and exiting Vaasa through Bloodstone Pass. The river bisected the realm with the arid badlands of the Cinnabar Wastes in the north and the short grass steppes of Haatar-Baen and the Sunderland in the south.

Because the Great Glacier kept melting, the northern border of Vaasa kept shifting northward. Between the 14 and 15 centuries DR, the labyrinthine ice formations known as the Ice Run melted away, adding the Lugsaas Chain Mountains to the landscape.

Flora & Fauna
Little grew naturally in Vaasa save for the grasses of the southern steppes. There were no forests, and what few clumps of trees could be found were as often dead as alive. While the grassy plain of the Sunderland in the southeast was decently fertile and could support agriculture and ranching, the southwestern grasslands along the West Galena Mountains were locally known as the Bleak Steppes of Haatar-Baen because the soil was tainted and everything that grew in the area was inevitably poisonous.

The land was inhospitable to all but the most hardy animals and monsters. Giantkin were common all across Vaasa, as were orcs, goblinoids, and yeti. Winter wolves and polar bears were common near the mountains and the Glacier to the north, as were remorhaz, so much so that hunting and killing a remorhaz was considered a right of passage among the White Worm barbarian tribe. The central badlands were home to chromatic dragons, bulettes, and similarly foul creatures. In the south, leucrotta stalked the steppes and owlbears haunted the mountains.

Government
For much of its existence, Vaasa was largely unclaimed and lawless outside of a few close-knit communities. It was conquered and ruled for a decade in the mid 14 century DR by the tyrannical Zhengyi the Witch-King before returning to its frontier status through the rest of the mid-to-late 14 century DR.

As of the late 15 century DR, Vaasa was a feudal society in which all power rested with the Warlock Knights. Anyone who was not a member of the Knights was considered a lowly serf or a slave. All landowning nobility were members of the Knights called Fellthanes, who in turn were vassals of more powerful Knights known as Vindicators. At the top of the hierarchy were the twelve most powerful Vindicators who made up the Ironfell Council along with the Voice of Telos, the leader of the Warlock Knights and thus the de facto ruler of Vaasa.

The seat of the Warlock Knights' power was was Telos City, where the Ironfell Council deliberated on matters of state within the grand Citadel of the Iron Sky. As these councilors had to journey from their holdings across Vaasa, they held court infrequently and often for no more than a total of five days out of each month.

Trade
Vaasa was a land rich in mineral resources. The Galenas were full of iron, silver, and copper as well as gemstones, including emerald and ruby but especially bloodstone. These made up the bulk of Vaasa's exports along with a comparatively minor business in trapping and fur trading.

14 Century

As much of the land remained unclaimed, there were many prospectors who came to Vaasa seeking its natural treasures in the mid-to-late 14 century DR. Trade was almost exclusively conducted through the Vaasan Gate of Bloodstone Pass, where the Kingdom of Damara had ensured that merchants would pay fair market prices for Vaasan goods and gems. Barter was also extremely common as the tools and supplies for survival could be far more valuable than gold to the average Vaasan. While some trade also occurred across the West Galenas to the Moonsea via Garumn's Climb, more often than not this route was seldom used unless there were problems with the usual trade routes through Damara. Behind mining, the most profitable business in Vaasa at this time was likely bounty hunting.

15 Century

By the late 15 century DR, the Warlock Knights had transformed the Vaasan Gate into the "Iron Divide," completely sealing the Pass and using the Gate solely as a military fortification. With Bloodstone Pass no longer an option for trade, the Knights had to look elsewhere, both to continue exporting Vaasan goods but also to import the basic necessities that the harsh landscape of Vaasa was not able to produce, such as food and lumber. The route through Garumn's Climb was available, but was seen as too long and too dangerous to be sustainable, although it was improved by incorporating the Beaumaris River between Moortown and Kond as part of the imports route. To solve the problem of losing the eastern route through the Galenas, the High Walk was the shortest option, and Palischuk became the biggest trade hub in the realm. To solve the need for a faster route to the Moonsea, the Knights opened Gramble's Climb in the spring of 1480 DR for a direct link between southeastern Vaasa and Hulburg.

The Warlock Knights minted their own currency in Telos City using alloys of traditional precious metals with ironfell. The copper-based coins were called nubs, the silver-based coins were called dirks, and the gold-based coins were called anvils. Platinum was not minted into coins but instead was exchanged in thin ingots worth 50 anvils.

Culture
Vaasan culture was largely informed by the harshness of the land and by the influence of Damaran culture from across the Galenas. Vaasan s viewed themselves as frontierspeople who prioritized adapting and surviving in their environment. They were hardy and wary of dangers, but also supportive of each other and happy to welcome good-intentioned new members to their communities, such as when they embraced the half-orc settlers of Palischuk in the mid-to-late 14 century. As with most nations in the so-called Demonlands, Vaasa used the Impilturan Calendar and spoke the Damaran language, although in particular they spoke a creole language unique to Vaasa based in Damaran, Dwarvish, and Common.

Feudal Hierarchy
During the latter half of the 15 century, the frontier-like spirit of Vaasa would be overshadowed by the oppressive class system put in place by the Warlock Knights. Only high-ranking Knights were entitled to own land, and all others served them either as lower-ranking Knights, serfs, or slaves. Lower-ranking Knights ranged from the equivalent of landless nobility to conscripted serfs, and even these lowliest of indentured infantry saw the benefits of merely being associated with the Knights as compared to being just a serf.

Anyone not associated with the Knights was automatically considered a serf in the eyes of the law. These people toiled on the Knights' land, barely scraping by, and lived in much worse conditions than most common folk across Faerûn. The serfs themselves were further stratified by race. Nearly all of the Warlock Knights were human, and non-human serfs were considered even lesser in their eyes. This predominantly included the dwarves, half-orcs, and orcs of Vaasa, as well as the "scamps," a derogatory term for any of the more diminutive races, including goblins, kobolds, and halflings.

Finally, the lowest rung on the ladder were the slaves. Most non-human inhabitants of Vaasa were enslaved, although there was nothing stopping the Knights from enslaving whomever they wished within their domain. Slave labor was the driving force behind the mining operations that generated most of Vaasa's wealth.

Religion
In general, Vaasans cared little for the religion of their neighbors, which allowed many faiths, even less reputable ones, to flourish in the 14 century DR. For example, one of the legacies of Zhengyi the Witch-King was an enduring population of Orcus worshipers. As hardship and suffering were endemic to life in Vaasa, Ilmater was one of the more popular good ly gods in the region, and his faith was encouraged by Gareth Dragonsbane and the Order of the Golden Cup. Thanks to the large populations of orcs and half-orcs, worship of the orc pantheon was quite common, and likewise the longtime presence of the dwarves meant that the Morndinsamman were popular as well. Worship of the stone giant god Skoraeus Stonebones was unusually common among the goblinoids and giantkin of the Galenas.

With the rise of the Warlock Knights came a crackdown on religion, and worship of gods like Ilmater was banned among the serfs. In places like Telos City, no temples were permitted and no worship of any deities was allowed. These faiths were replaced with a state religion that venerated Telos, the entity from which the Warlock Knights drew their powers. This faith was presided over by a sect of warlock priests called the Luminaries, led by the Voice of Telos, who held quasi-religious services and maintained shrines to Telos, such as in the Citadel of the Iron Sky in Telos City.

History
Early History

In the mythic past, the lands that would one day be Vaasa were part of the giant empire of Ostoria. The area was always known to be rich in gemstones, and the dwarves established mining settlements in the region, including the twin mines of Delhalls and Talagbar. In the year, the continual expansion southwards of the Great Glacier covered Vaasa and its neighbors with thick ice, driving out the inhabitants. In the, the Glacier began steadily melting, starting a centuries-long retreat northward that freed Vaasa, Damara, and Narfell from the ice for the first time in millennia.

At this time, the edges of the Glacier were inhabited by tribes of nomadic humans, including the White Worm tribe, and as the ice melted they were followed by dwarven clans who settled the Galena Mountains. They were followed by a wave of human migration mostly from the Moonsea.

For the first two centuries after the Glacier began retreating, Vaasa had little contact with or relevance to the rest of the Realms aside from serving as an inhospitable northern route for Damaran caravans to reach the Moonsea. Vaasa was often ignored by scholars and assumed by most to be an uncivilized frozen wasteland. During this time, Vaasa was inhabited mostly by hunters, trappers, subsistence farmers, Dwarven miners, and nomadic tribes of humanoids. That said, there was a culture of arcane if not scholarly tradition in Vaasa. In 1141 DR, a cabal of Vaasan wizards raised the Ice Castle in the Lugsaas Mountains where they experimented with creating a new school of magic based on cold. The wizards and their castle disappeared in 1148 DR when a massive earthquake rocked northern Vaasa. Additionally, Vaasa was home to the great explorer Palus Frohm, who launched a 20 year expedition to the Great Glacier starting in the. Based on this experience, he wrote the definitive guide to arctic regions, 'Blood and Ice: Survival in the Great Glacier'.

The 14 Century

Vaasa's reputation would be forever changed in the when the lich Zhengyi the Witch-King appeared. He raised Castle Perilous over the course of a single night, immediately claimed sovereignty of Vaasa, and began recruiting evil humanoids and raising an army of undead towards his cause of conquest. Within a year, he had full control of the region and had invaded neighboring Damara. In the, after ten years of war, he slew the Damaran king, Virdin Bloodfeathers, and seized control of Damara. However, Zhengyi himself would be defeated two years later in the, when Gareth Dragonsbane and a company of adventurers stormed Castle Perilous and severed Zhengyi's link to Orcus, thus breaking the power of his undead armies. Despite his defeat and the destruction of Castle Perilous, Zhengyi's legacy and fears of his possible return continued to pollute the area for over a century.

The next two decades were a period of explosive growth in Vaasa. The Great Glacier continued to recede, revealing the ancient dwarven mines of Delhalls and Talagbar, and the land became known as a destination for prospectors looking for mineral wealth, leading the population to spike from about 8,000 in 1359 DR to over 140,000 in 1372 DR. All the while, Vaasa was known to be dangerous and full of monsters, including remnants of the Witch-King's armies. Gareth Dragonsbane, who had become King of Damara, made great efforts to fortify Bloodstone Pass against future incursions from Vaasa, including building the Vaasan Gate and offering huge bounties for evil humanoids and bandits from the region. Much of this effort was in service to pacifying the region in order to add it to Gareth Dragonsbane's kingdom, which had been a goal of his since he united Damara. At some point during or after the late 1370s DR, King Dragonsbane did indeed annex Vaasa to create the unified Kingdom of Bloodstone.

The 15 Century

During the rule of the Dragonsbanes, Vaasa was a peaceful if still largely inhospitable land. It continued to draw immigrants, especially from Impiltur. During this time, the Great Glacier would continue its retreat northwards to beyond the Lugsaas Chain Mountains, freeing the ruins of the ancient titan kingdom of Kultaakarr from the ice.

This relatively peaceful time in Vaasa began to change with the emergence of the Warlock Knights sometime after the Spellplague, who began subjugating small settlements of peasants and conscripting evil humanoids. The Knights then marshaled an army of conscripts, slaves, and monsters in 1459 DR, and began open rebellion in the.

Over the next decade of war, the Warlock Knights would brutally conquer Vaasa, culminating in the, when they captured the Bloodstone capital city and razed it to the ground. With this, they sealed Bloodstone Pass and declared independence, thus splintering the Kingdom of Bloodstone back into Vaasa and Damara. However, this did not end the Knights' violence, and in 1470 DR, they attacked the dwarves of the Galena Mountains, forcing them to abandon Bloodstone Mines and to barricade Hillsafar Hall. By this point, their conquests had driven thousands of Vaasan people and humanoids from their homes, and with Bloodstone Pass closed, these refugees gathered in tent cities or sought refuge in the Knights' own capital of Telos.

Under the Warlock Knights, Vaasa was structured as a feudal system with the majority of the human population in serfdom and much of the non-human population in slavery or indentured servitude. By 1480 DR, all nobles and landowning lords in Vaasa were members of the Knights.

Notable Locations
Cities


 * Telos City, the capital of Vaasa and its largest city under the rule of the Warlock Knights.
 * Palischuk, a once-destroyed city rebuilt and occupied by half-orcs which had grown to be Vaasa's second largest yet wealthiest city under the Warlock Knights.
 * Darmshall, a small fortress-village founded by the Tenblades adventuring company which grew to become Vaasa's third largest city under the Warlock Knights.

Settlements


 * Avang, a trade stopover on the western edge of Vaasa.
 * Fugue, a tent city of refugees trying to escape through Bloodstone Pass.
 * Hillsafar Hall, a heavily fortified Dwarven fortress that sat at the entrance to the mines of Clan Hillsafar.
 * Ishe, an outpost in Vaasa's far north.
 * Kond, a town and trade outpost built into the cliffs above the Beaumaris River.
 * Maur-Eturo, a ranching town located at the intersection of the main trade routes through Vaasa.
 * Modurt, a town inhabited largely by goblins.
 * Moortown, a settlement in the Bottomless Bogs located on the Beaumaris River.

Points of interest


 * The Black Holes of Sunderland, a network of monster-infested caves in the southeast.
 * Castle Perilous, the ruined former home of Zhengyi the Witch-King which mysteriously rejuvenated in 1477 DR.
 * Delhalls and Talagbar, twin Dwarven mines on opposite ends of Vaasa.
 * The Granite Tower, a secluded keep that served as the home of descendants of the Moor Eagle tribe.
 * The Iron Divide, a massive fortress at the entrance to Bloodstone Pass that was formerly called the Vaasan Gate.
 * Shrine of the Tear, a shrine built to house the Tear of Selûne following the Dawn Cataclysm.

Roads, passes, and waterways


 * The Beaumaris River, the main waterway which bisected the realm.
 * Bloodstone Pass, the critical route through the Galena Mountains connecting Vaasa to Damara.
 * Dead Man's Walk, the primary east-west route across Vaasa.
 * Garumn's Climb, a mountain pass which connected western Vaasa to the Moonsea North.
 * Gramble's Climb, a mountain pass which connected southern Vaasa to Hulburg on the Moonsea.
 * The High Walk, a mountain pass which connected northeastern Vaasa to Soravia in Damara.
 * The Howling Kupuk, a mountain pass which connected northeastern Vaasa to Alpuk.
 * The Ice Run, a series tunnels in the Great Glacier. After this section of the ice melted in the 15 century DR, the name was subsequently used for a pass connecting northern Vaasa to Alpuk.
 * Nigel's Ford, the primary crossing of the Beaumaris River in eastern Vaasa.
 * The Reach, a trail that headed north through the Great Glacier to Sossal.

Appearances

 * Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone
 * Promise of the Witch-King