Gharreil

"In the mountains he wandered long, in the icy lands of the Ulutiuns, amid the ruins of Gharreil. He walked on stones laid by giants of old and marveled at towering statues of ice."

- A fragment from an ancient poem

Gharreil was one of the seats of the Satraps of the ancient Jhothûn Empire of giants.

Geography & Layout
The ruins of Gharreil were located under the Great Glacier, in the region of Alpuk, near the Lugsaas Chain and the border of Vaasa, about 100 miles from Castle Perilous.

The ruins were protected by a magical dome of force that surrounded the city and kept it from being crushed under the epic grinding forces of the Great Glacier.

A one-way portal from the ruins of Choshein within a cavern in the High Ice led to a crevasse outside the dome that surrounded the ruins of Gharreil. The crevasse was so deep that it was almost perpetually in shadow; however, when the sun was directly overhead, magic runes, written in the ancient tongue of Jotunalder appeared in a great circle, 22 feet (7 meters) in diameter, upon the wall. The runes gave off a transmutation aura. Placing one's hand in the center of the circle of runes and saying the blessing, "May the qorrash smile upon it and nurture its mighty works," would cause the ice to melt away and reveal the entrance to the city.

Government
In its day, Gharreil was ruled by a satrap, who served the emperor of Jhothûn with the assistance of the princes of Jhothûn, who were each quorrashi advisors.

History
Gharreil was one of the four major cities of the giant empire of Jhothûn and served as the capital of the eastern province of the Great Glacier.

Gharreil fell because of conflicts between it and its sister provincial cities of Karffbadh and Choshein. White dragons took advantage of the chaos and sped the downfall. The city decayed in stages. In the later phase, the populace erected a wall around the central core and left the outer city to fall to ruins.

Rumors and legends
It was suspected that the ruins might still hold ancient items of mystery or magic.

Notable Locations
The city of Gharreil contained a great amphitheater and a public pool. A promenade leading from the theater was composed of 24 columns, between pairs of columns on each side, twelve curtains of violet, heatless energy, six on each side, were permanently lit, as if by a continual flame spell. At the western end of this promenade was a portal to the capital city of Jhothûn, which was still functioning perfectly even as late as 1372 DR.

Inhabitants
The city was once populated by giants, who were ancestors of the frost giants. With the help of the qorrash, they developed great magics, even shaping the weather to remain cold to their liking.

In 1372 DR, a gelugon, one of the Icy Claws of Iyraclea, guarded the portal to Jhothûn found in the center of the city. His name was Tosvin, and he was chosen by the last Prince of Jhothûn. Tosvin monitored the gateway to Gharreil's protective dome with a magical mirror he earlier found within the ruins.

Trivia
The map of Gharreil, shown above was originally released on August 24th, 2000, as a general-purpose city map for the "Map-A-Week" feature on the Wizards of the Coast website.