Battle of Bones

The Battle of Bones was the name given to an old battlefield in the Western Heartlands.

Geography
The Battle was located immediately southwest of the Anauroch desert, north of the northwestern border of the Sunset Mountains. It was south of the elven city of Evereska, and  south-southeast of the Marsh of Chelimber.

Geographical Features
The Battle itself was a rocky plain surrounded by mountains, lying at a higher elevation than the lands outside of the mountain ring. Rocks of various sizes and sand, fallen from the inside slopes of the mountains by weathering, could be found scattered over the plain. Outside of the mountain ring was a basalt and limestone landscape, dotted with jutting pillars of granite, though the further east one traveled, and the closer one came to Anauroch, the more sandy the land became.

Flora and Fauna
Due to the lack of local water sources and precipitation, plus regional heat extremes, flora in the region was sparse, but not nonexistent. Razor grass and scrub brush could be found growing sporadically, as could a few cacti, meadow grasses and stunted trees. During the brief rainy season, late in the month of Tarsakh, seeds dropped twelve months ago could grow into several varieties of fruiting bushes - Sandberry bushes, Bloodberry bushes, Goblinberry bushes, and Firebushes.

By far the most endemic fauna of these lands were burrowing insects. Lizards and snakes were also relatively common in the area. Mammals, such as voles, coyotes and rats were far less easy to find. A few hawks may have been seen flying above, along with other scavenger birds. One sky-borne creature of note was the bone vulture, a subspecies of vulture found only in this region; another was the fire falcon. A few sand cats hunted the local rodents, and there were rumors of larger monsters, such as drakes and dragonnes. Once, there was even a claimed sighting of a dune stalker.

History
In the, the goblinoid nations north of Cormyr found themselves the victims of overly warm, dry weather. Over the next five decades, water sources dried up; Anauroch crept southward towards their lands; and soil became untillable. Many thousands of goblins died as their homelands became less and less habitable. In the, to stop the infighting and reclaim lost power, a charismatic goblin commander named Izac Uthor rallied his fellow goblinoids and their orc and kobold allies, to attack human settlements to the north and west of their lands. Their efforts did not go unnoticed, and armies were sent from all over the Western Heartlands and even as far as Waterdeep, Baldur's Gate, Silverymoon, and its neighboring dwarf holds to meet Uthor's horde at Torgor's Triangle. The armies arrived in Mirtul of the. The Goblin scouts failed to notice the enemy amassing until it was too late. Uthor's army was surrounded. Uthor ordered his forces to attack. It was said that the battle lasted a total of two days and two-and-a-half nights. Almost four hundred thousand men, elves, dwarves, orcs, kobolds, goblins and hobgoblins were dead by the time the fighting ceased, and Torgor's Triangle would be known thereafter as the Battle of Bones.

Rot grubs, flies, Carrion crawlers, and massive flocks of carrion birds descended upon the battlefield, and the site was largely avoided by people for a few years afterward save for necromancers and looters. After a few years though, widows and clerics arrived to mourn and pray. They reported seeing and being attacked by undead, leading to people abandoning even these respectful visits.

All sorts of spectral and corporeal undead could be found at the Battle, save for vampires, due to the relative lack of blood to be found there.

This all changed when the Vampire King Mordoc SeLanmere came to the Battle. Mordoc then took full control of the Battle and built the Keep of Pale Night in it. The nightwalkers, zombies, and skeleton warriors were then inaugurated into his vampire army under the rule of his servant, Xanhast. Upon Mordoc's destruction in Baldur's Gate, the vampire army scattered throughout the Battle.

Inhabitants
After the Battle of Bones, the ravaged area was renamed after the war that took place in its terrain. Only the undead lived in the Battle, with the occasion traveler passing through. Travelers likely ended up dead and become of the undead in the Battle.

Skeleton warriors and zombies of both orckind and humankind inhabited the Battle. Occasionally, creatures killed in the Battle would become either zombies or skeletons, depending on the manner of their death. They served under the vampire army and were its lowest-ranking soldiers.

Originally the dominant species of the Battle, the nightwalkers ruled over the Battle but were later scattered throughout it after the fall of the vampire army. They likely ruled over the skeletons and the zombies after the fall of the vampire army but it was likely that small vampire factions looking for power in the Battle controlled them as Xanhast once did.

Vampires once ruled the whole of the Battle and had nightwalkers, skeletons, and zombies unified under a single vampire army. Upon the death of Mordoc SeLanmere, this army was scattered.

Priests of Velsharoon from the Crypt of the Arisen Army in the nearby Skull Gorge were known to be active in the Battle of Bones area as of the 1370s DR.

Appearances

 * Video Games:
 * Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II