Stonelands

The Stonelands was a broken and hilly region of moorlands that extended north and south of the Storm Horns mountain range, lying between the Anauroch and Cormyr.

Geography
The Stonelands consisted of dry moorlands split by valleys and hills that had a harsh beauty to them. It was 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 formed 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 also 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 and the High Moors, further regions of bogs, hills, and broken ground.

Geographical Features

 * The Eastern Storm Horns were great mountains that rose out the center of the Stonelands, and provided a natural barrier against threats from the north. They roughly divided the Stonelands into northern and southern halves.
 * Startop Crag was a peak in the northern Stonelands just south of the High Meadows.
 * Gnoll Pass was the main northern passage of Cormyr that cut between the Eastern Storm Horns and the Gnoll Peaks.
 * The Helmlands were a dangerous and unstable region of tar pits, wild magic and dead magic zones, named after the god Helm.
 * 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.
 * The Starwater River descended from the Storm Horns across the southern Stonelands, cutting through Eveningstar Gorge and the Stonecliff.
 * The Stonecliff were the steep limestone crags of the Stonelands' southernmost edge, broken by Eveningstar 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 chimeras, fire lizards, and hydras.

A few varieties of dinosaur lived deep 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.

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 was 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.

The thunderstorms of the Stonelands 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 unnatural 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.

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 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.

History
Legends told that 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 above the clouds crashed down to the earth from the sky, creating the Stonelands.

In the, 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, destroying much of what had been rebuilt and drying out the Stonelands significantly. 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 at the Battle of Bones.

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 the, Princess Alusair was operating in the Stonelands again, 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
 * 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.
 * Wyvernwatch Castle, a fortified tower that was controlled by Lord Vorik Aris.


 * Landmarks
 * Cavern of Death, a cave network inhabited by the lich Asbaron.
 * Caverns of the Claws, a notorious cave troll-hold in the Stonecliff.
 * 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 on a lake bordering the Goblin Marches.
 * Tilverton, a major city that was annexed by Cormyr.


 * 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.
 * Barrenstone, the home of the lich Adzerak.
 * Darkenshield, a village along the Stonebolt Trail destroyed by Gondegal's forces.
 * 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.
 * The Tower of Ruin, a cursed heap of rubble.

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, hobgoblins. These tribes included the Neidlig, Fenlis, Melial, and Teerac, and shared a common origin with those of the Goblin Marches and High Moors, having derived from the ancient realm of Hlundadim.

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 through the region and made influencing the local humanoids a priority, using diplomacy and bribery to ensure safe passage 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. 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.

Kobolds and bugbears were quite rare in the region, preferring to live deeper in the Underdark and avoid trouble on the surface unless a very profitable opportunity arose. Gnolls generally lived apart from all other inhabitants and were mostly found 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.

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 profession. 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 opposed in this by the silver dragon Fi Lendicol, who came to the region specifically to thwart her plans.

Giants & Dragons
Giantkin were not uncommon in the Stonelands, with many ettins and ogres finding work as warriors with tribes of smaller humanoids or larger 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 surprisingly well 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 on cave-dwellers.

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 and rocs as pets and 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.

Rumors
Cloud giants, storm giants, silver dragons and mist dragons were believed to make their homes in the remnants of Avaeraether.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * ''Four from Cormyr
 * Novels:
 * Azure Bonds • Cormyr: A Novel • The Ring of Winter