Forlorn Hills

The Forlorn Hills was a hilly region in northwest Faerûn between the Dessarin Valley and the Delimbiyr Vale. The hills were once the center of the ancient shield dwarven kingdom of Dardath —one of the three kingdoms in Phalorm, the Realm of Three Crowns—and were then called the Dark Hills. After the triumvirate collapsed in the, the Dark Hills became known as the Fallen Hills or, more commonly, the Forlorn Hills. The people of Athalantar called them the Horn Hills. Some folks mistakenly called them the Sword Hills, confusing them with a smaller range of hills on the south bank of the Delimbiyr.

Geography
The Forlorn Hills were located east of Ardeep Forest, across the swath of open land that contained the House of Stone and was once the realm of Elembar. To the south was the Delimbiyr Vale and the River Delimbiyr. The Iron Road ran southeast from Womford, skirting the northern edge of the Hills, until it reached the village of Uluvin on the eastern edge. The town of Secomber was farther to the southeast. To the northeast was the High Forest and to the northwest was Gaustar's Creek, a tributary of the River Dessarin.

Geographical Features
The Forlorn Hills were once part of the great forest that included Ardeep Forest, but dwarves cleared portions of it and then later humans from Athalantar put the western side of the Hills (known as the Halangorn Forest) to the torch in an effort to drive the remaining elves away from lands they wished to claim. The hollows between the hills were often in the shadow of the surrounding peaks and thick mists typically obscured vision until highsun.

By the time of Phalorm, the landscape was stony and the hills were isolated in places. The line of hills that formed the northern border of the area were known as the Watchers of the North. There was a high ridge that arced through a portion of the Hills near the center. It was here that the mansion known as the House of Taeros once stood before it and part of the ridge were destroyed in a spellbattle around the end of the 6 century DR, leaving behind the ruin known as the Crumbling Stair.

History
Since the time of the First Flowering, elves held sway over the surface of the Forlorn Hills. Initially it was the moon elves and green elves of Illefarn and Ardeep, then it was the gold elves of Aryvandaar during the Crown Wars. The area saw a resurgence of Illefarn and Ardeep after the defeat of the Vyshaanti of Aryvandaar at the beginning of The Founding Time.

Dwarves established settlements beneath the Forlorn Hills sometime in the early part of The Founding Time, if not before. At the very latest, they were there to take in refugees from Besilmer when that above-ground dwarven realm was wiped out by hill giants and other creatures in.

In the time leading up to the founding of Phalorm, the dwarves established their underground realm of Dardath, but above ground the human realms of Elembar (in the ) sprang up on the west side of the Hills and Athalantar (in the ) on the east. Athalantar had ambitions to take over the Hills and set fire to the Halangorn Forest between Elembar and the Hills to drive out any inhabitants. Ultimately, this tactic failed when Elembar moved into the Halangorn uplands and established noble houses such as the House of Taeros and what became known as the Moon Tower. The untamed portion of the Hills remained the habitat for bandits and monsters. In the, the young Elminster was an outlaw, hiding from the magelords of Athalantar in what they called the Horn Hills. Athalantar was destroyed by an orc horde in and Elembar suffered the same fate in the.

Phalorm, the Realm of Three Crowns, was chartered in the, and the dwarves of Dardath became part of the triumvirate along with the elves of Ardeep and the humans from Delimbiyran (the last remnant of Elembar). The dwarven population of the Hills grew during this time as refugees from the Duchy of Hunnabar fled a troll incursion in the. Phalorm lasted less than a century. Dardath suffered the death of their king, Oskilar Ironaxe, in the, and the elves withdrew from the alliance, many leaving for Evermeet, the following year. Delimbiyran, under King Javilarhh II, claimed all the lands previously belonging to Phalorm and named it the Kingdom of Man in the.

The Kingdom of Man was ultimately unable to stem the invading hordes in the face of internal strife after King Davyd was assassinated in the. The dwarves of the Forlorn Hills continued to drift apart after the death of King Oskilar and, in the, the loss of most of their fighting forces. Dwarf holds became defensive and isolated, depleted further by emigration to Ammarindar. They even went so far as to pretend a plague had swept through Firehammer Hold, hoping the ruse would keep enemies at bay.

The Kingdom of Man devolved into lesser realms including the human Calandor, Scathril, Loravatha, and Starshadow; the halfling Duchy of Imristar; and the gnomish Duchy of Gloraela. Roughly, the northwestern quarter of the Fallen Hills was claimed by Loravatha, including the House of Taeros/Crumbling Stair. Many of these small kingdoms fell one by one under the relentless assault of orc raiders until finally, in the, the Duke of Calandor was able to muster an army strong enough to defeat the invaders.

For centuries thereafter, the dwarves maintained a relatively low profile in the Forlorn Hills, but the story about a plague-devastated Firehammer Hold eventually became an attraction for adventurers instead of a repellent. The clerics of Haela Brightaxe that controlled what they called Torstultok, the Hall of Grand Hunts, had little choice except to try and redirect these would-be tomb raiders by hiring them to seek out and clear other dwarven holds that were known to have been taken over by orcs. Eventually, the old Firehammer Hold became a nexus for dwarves and other races looking for glory and treasure. By the, the priests had spread rumors and placed clues around the region to lure more adventurers to spend their money and sell their loot at Firehammer Hold. The most well-known example was a map scrawled on the wall of a small room in the Singing Sprite inn. By the, there were a number of dwarf clans making their home in the Forlorn Hills.

In the late 15 century, Firehammer Hold was conquered by duergar from the Underdark in a plot instigated by the Red Wizards of Thay. The evil wizards also began building a small fortress called Bloodgate Keep on the west side of the Forlorn Hills, far from any large settlements, for use as a base for invading the Sword Coast via a portal from Thay.

Notable Locations
In the, Lord Geldirth Gost of Waterdeep began constructing a secret underground complex with a series of portals that eventually emerged in a secluded cave on the southern slopes of the Forlorn Hills. Other interesting locations included:
 * The Crumbling Stair
 * Firehammer Hold
 * Bloodgate Keep
 * The Moon Tower of Elembar
 * The Floating Tower of Ondil of the Many Spells

Inhabitants
The Forlorn Hills were prowled by leucrotta and wyverns that subsisted mainly on wild sheep. There were also hill giants and ettins that managed to eke out a living in the scrub. The highest peaks were usually inhabited by copper dragons that rummaged around in abandoned dwarf holds. Various tribes of goblinoids lived in the Hills. At least three orc tribes—the Fanged Moon, Gory Maul, and Jagged Scythe—also called the Forlorn Hills home in the late 15 century. Brigands and bandits often used the Hills as a base for raiding caravans and holdings around the area.

Appearances

 * The Forlorn Hills is presented as a possible setting for the Cairn Hills in the Age of Worms Adventure Path described in Dungeon #124.
 * One of Halaster's inventions found in the Mad Wizard's Lair of Undermountain could teleport itself and a creature inside it to the top of a hill in the Forlorn Hills.