Llorkh

Llorkh was a large human town in the Gray Vale of the Savage Frontier. Once an important mining town, it dwindled and was finally annexed by the Zhentarim in the mid–14th century DR, becoming the westernmost outpost for their caravans and efforts to dominate trade in the North. After Zhentish rule, the town continued to fade in the 15th century DR,        and finally destroyed by stone giants in the late 1400s DR.

Early History
Llorkh was originally founded by Netherese refugees fleeing the downfall of Netheril, sometime after its fall in the Year of Sundered Webs, −339 DR. The neighboring settlement of Loudwater was founded around the same time.

Later on, further settlement of Llorkh and Loudwater, as well as Longsaddle, Secomber, Triboar, and others, was undertaken by pioneers from Waterdeep after the establishment of the Lords of Waterdeep there in 1032 DR. These pioneers were sponsored by noble and mercantile Waterdhavian families.

Llorkh grew to become a sleepy mining town, its people busy working mines in the nearby hills and farming the surrounding land. The town was led by a series of lords, well-respected, retired miners and warriors. However, production soon started to wane and Llorkh began to dwindle. Only stubborn miners and many sheepherders were expected to remain.

Take-Over
Finally, shortly before 1357 DR, the last of the old lords, Phintarn "Redblade", was found dead at the foot of the Lord's Keep. Overnight, the mage Geildarr Ithym seized the Lord's Keep and claimed the throne. Soon after, four hundred "Lord's Men" arrived and in a handful of battles slaughtered all of the existing militia under the pretext that they were trouble-makers. The citizens found themselves under the "protection" of the Lord's Men. Thus, Llorkh was quickly and quietly conquered by the Zhentarim and under the control of their puppet.

Thanks to this brutal occupation, the townsfolk had no liking for Geildarr. In the aftermath, Phintarn's brother died mysteriously one night, and his inn was razed the very next day. Lord Geildarr named the aged dwarf cleric Thianos "Ironskull" an outlaw and ordered his troops to find him. Since the takeover, the dwarves of Llorkh steadily and discreetly departed, even disappeared.

Zhentarim Control
As soon as their control over the town was consolidated, Zhentarim caravans began to arrive from the Anauroch. They required accommodations, food, water, animals, wagon repairs, and so the townsfolk were pressed into work supplying these. They erected rough inns and taverns to cater to the caravans.

By 1357 DR, the fiendish forces of Hellgate Keep advanced on newly conquered Llorkh. The Lord's Men met them on the banks of the Delimbiyr river above Shining Falls. They fought a major battle, but beat the demons back.

In Uktar of the Year of Shadows, 1358 DR, one particular Zhentarim caravan was secretly transporting a menagerie of monsters in locked wagons for unknown reasons on a journey to the south. One night, one monster—eyewitnesses described something huge, dark, man-shaped, and with vicious insectoid mandibles, suggesting it was an umber hulk—escaped from its wagon, knocked over three others, and destroyed an inn and three other builds, and finally bolted in the hills. Meanwhile, other monsters spilled from the knocked-over wagons and roamed the streets before the Lord's Men came to deal with them. The caravan masters absconded into the night, and daylight found thirty monster zombies, undead ogres, bugbears, and minotaurs destroyed and ten soldiers and civilians killed.

The travelogue writer Volothamp Geddarm, when visiting Llorkh, once stopped at the Ten Bells. There he was accosted by four thugs, whom he suspected to be Zhentarim agents, and defended himself with magic. Leaving burning bodies behind, he promptly fled town, not desiring to return.

In the mid-1360s DR, the House of Klond, a small caravan trading company, was suspected of smuggling metals out of Mirabar and transporting them to Llorkh to pass to the Zhentarim.

Circa 1372 DR, Lamris Kholl (a former inhabitant of Llorkh) and Adama Miiralin managed to rescue the Kholl family from Llorkh and Zhentarim rule.

15th Century
After only a handful of decades of Zhent occupation, the veins of gold and silver in Llorkh's mines played out. The occupiers left, taking everything of value with them and leaving Llorkh's buildings in a state of ruin.

Although Llorkh was still disreputable, one incompetent ruler after another caused the remaining citizens of integrity to leave, and it suffered a dramatic decline in the 1470s DR. By 1479 DR, the city lay in ruins and served as a stronghold for a self-styled bandit king and his henchmen.

The bandit king was eventually killed and people started to return to Llorkh in an attempt to restore it. It was then that a clan of stone giants, led by an evil, xenophobic giantess named Kayalithica, in alliance with the Uthgardt Blue Bear Tribe, smashed the town into rubble.

Geography
Llorkh was fairly isolated where it stood,  on the north bank of the River Grayflow in the western fringe of the Graypeak Mountains. The mountains to the east and north of the town were riddled with tunnels left by mining operations. These were old and almost depleted by the mid–14th century DR.

The town stood on the Dawn Pass Trail, which, via the Dawn Pass, connected with the Black Road over Anauroch.

Government
Prior to the Zhentish occupation of 1357 DR, Llorkh was governed by a succession of human lords, often retired miners or warriors who'd earned the respect of the community. It's said they would never have tolerated the Zhentarim in their town. Phintarn was the last of these old lords, until he was found dead shortly before 1357 DR.

Afterward, Llorkh was ruled by Lord Geildarr from 1357 DR onward, through the 1360s      and early 1370s DR. By 1372 DR, his title had changed to Lord Mayor.

Following the end of Zhentish occupation in the 15th century DR, Llorkh was under the thumb of a series of inept rulers, ending with a bandit king by 1479 DR.

Relations
The Zhentarim of Llorkh were opposed by the Lords' Alliance of the good cities of the North, who contained their spread to the town's environs. They were also opposed by the Harpers.

However, the greatest threat to Llorkh and the Zhentarim in the region was the fiendish might of Hellgate Keep. The Zhents worried that disguised demons would infiltrate Llorkh and sabotage their efforts, and so hastened to strengthen and protect themselves around 1370 DR. However, they were not always in conflict: in the winter of 1370 DR, after the destruction of much of Hellgate Keep, Zhent slavers from Llorkh avoided the guardian treants and entered the Keep. They met and made an alliance with the cambion Kaanyr Vhok, who sought to gain information, slaves, and modern magic. They would seek to maintain their alliance for the sake of control over the area, but in order to keep the treacherous fiend in line, they negotiated with the Arcane Brotherhood of Luskan for binding rituals.

There was opposition at home too: the increasingly overt Zhent dominance was not appreciated and few of the townsfolk liked, let alone loved, Lord Geildarr. He faced attacks from adventurers and rebellious townsfolk who fought to depose him, requiring protection by the Lord's Men. The local people in and around Llorkh were counted as experienced fighters against Zhent forces. Nevertheless, the people had mixed feelings about the Zhent takeover. The increased commerce put money in their pockets and was taken as a sign of prosperity, but crime and corruption grew and people felt unsafe. Either way, the majority were forced to support the regime.

Defenses
Prior to the Zhent occupation, Llorkh was protected by a local militia. Afterward, the Zhentarim installed the Lord's Men, 400 purple-cloaked soldiers (secretly members of the Zhentilar). These defended the town against orcs and fiends, enforced Geildarr's will, and protected the unpopular lord against adventurers and insurgent townsfolk. By 1366 DR, Zhentilar soldiers had arrived and were permanently camped outside town to the south and east. By 1372 DR, the Lord's Men had been reduced to 300 while the Zhentilar remained.

Around 1369/1370 DR, the Zhentilar were busily digging a large defensive ditch around the town, and greater fortifications were projected. They worked to turn Llorkh into a Zhentish stronghold.

Notable Locations
Prior to the take-over, Llorkh had but one tavern, the Ten Bells, and one inn, the Worried Wyvern, owned by Phintarn's brother, which was mysteriously razed after his death. With the influx of Zhent caravans, rough facilities were hastily constructed: the Drover's Cup and Wet Wizard taverns; and Tantarn's Inn (a pleasant place) and the Six Shields inn (little more than a Zhent soldiers' barracks).

By 1358 DR, Llorkh had a shrine to Bane the Black Lord, managed by priest Mythkar Leng. However, Mythkar later converted from the deceased Bane to the worship of Cyric, and a full-fledged temple to the new god called the Dark Sun was erected. It was thriving by 1366 DR.

Trade
Llorkh was once an important but quiet mining town, busily extracting iron and silver from the nearby mountains. However, the mines were shallow and their lodes were soon exhausted by the mid–14th century DR, causing the economy and the town to decline. Nevertheless, they were not completely worked out, and townsfolk continued to delve into them. After some decades, in the 15th century DR, the mines were finally declared empty.

The townspeople also survived off farming the surrounding land. Many herded sheep.

Llorkh stood at the western end of the Black Road over Anauroch, the primary Zhent trade route, and thus was a major stop for caravans from Zhentil Keep. Since Geildarr's takeover, Zhentarim-led caravans began to arrive in Llorkh in great numbers,  needing to take on staff, beasts, and supplies prior to the last leg of their journey: the trek to Loudwater, where barges would take their goods up-river. Through the 1360s DR, two caravans came from Darkhold each week except in the depths of winter, carrying trade goods, weaponry, and Zhentish warriors. The caravans brought much wealth to Llorkh, which desperately needed it after the mines failed. The people of Llorkh thus found prosperity servicing the Zhentarim caravans. In return, by dominating Llorkh, the Zhentarim had a monopoly on trade between the town and Loudwater and a point from which to further trade interests in northwest Faerûn.

Llorkh was also a popular place for treasure hunters to meet up and trade finds and information, thanks to proximity to the lands of the long-fallen empire of Netheril. On rare occasions, nomad tribesmen from Anauroch (the former home of Netheril) came to Llorkh to trade. They bought goods in exchange for curious relics of ancient designs.

Inhabitants
Prior to 1357 DR, Llorkh was home to approximately 2,000 humans and 300 dwarves,   and some 100 members of other races. However, after Geildarr took over, the dwarves gradually left and were almost entirely gone by 1368/1369 DR. Nevertheless, by mid-1372 DR, Llorkh had regrown to a population of 3,051.

The humans were largely of the "civilized" Northerner or Illuskan ethnicity.

Language
Here was spoken the "Llorkh" dialect of the Northern language (a form of Chondathan), though many people spoke Illuskan.

Rumors & Legends
Around 1357 DR, it was furtively rumored in Llorkh that Lord Geildarr was a member of the Zhentarim. This was in fact completely true  and all doubt was erased with the overt Zhentish dominance by 1372 DR.

It was rumored in Llorkh that the original dwarf population was being quietly murdered off by the Geildarr regime, just as Lord Phintarn had been. However, they in fact migrated to Mithral Hall in search of better lives under the reign of King Bruenor Battlehammer.