The Chieftains in Gold were a notorious nation of bandit lords active in the Nether Mountains long before the 14th century DR.[1][2][3]
Activities[]
The Chieftains' nation was ruled by hereditary kings[3] who wore an extravagant crown made of gold and silver and inlaid with countless gems.[5] They dominated of the lands around the western Nether Mountains and preyed on trade between Sundabar and the population center that would become Silverymoon, gaining great wealth from these illicit activities.[1][3] When relations between the bandits and the leaders of trading lands were good, the Chieftains merely extracted exorbitant tolls from merchants. When relations were poor, they would rob the caravans outright.[3]
Base of Operations[]
The Chieftains in Gold rode out from a large keep in the Nether Mountains north of Silverymoon Pass, where they also stored their stolen treasures.[1][2]
Whenever one of their number died, they was buried amid the Tombs of Deckon Thar, along with a collection of riches and stolen loot.[1][2] They were famed for the grandeur of the burials of their kings.[3]
History[]
The Chieftains in Gold were founded sometime before the formal founding of Silverymoon in the power vacuum created in the wake of the collapse of centralized power in the region.[3][note 1] They had their own culture, and came to control the western Nether Mountains as they raided caravans and warred with the dwarves.[1][4]
They were active for eight generations, with the rulers of the first seven being interred in the secret Tombs of Deckon Thar. However, during the eighth generation, they were wiped out by a horde of orcs, who also emptied the bandits' mighty keep. Ballads would claim that every member of the Chieftains in Gold—including the women and children—died in the battle with the orcs. The tombs of their kings, however, remained unplundered.[3]
By the mid-to-late 14th century DR, there were reports that the members of the bandits interred at the Tombs of Deckon Thar had risen as undead wights ruled by a powerful great wight called Vinjarak the Mound King.[1][3][4] He ruled these undead for at least 100 years afterward, during which time he became a menace to nearby Luruar.[2]
Members[]
The only member of the Chieftains whose name was remembered to history was Deckon Thar, the first of the bandit kings and the first to be buried in the barrows (and thus the namesake of those treasure-filled tombs).[1] Other bandit kings were remembered predominantly for the dangerous weapons which they wielded: one particularly warlike king had a cursed berserking longsword while another wielded the sentient broadsword Deepchill, which he had claimed from a dwarven king whom he slew in battle.[4]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
Appearances[]
Adventures
The Tombs of Deckon Thar
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Ed Greenwood and Jason Carl (July 2002). Silver Marches. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 15. ISBN 0-7869-2835-2.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, Chris Sims (August 2008). Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. Edited by Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 147. ISBN 978-0-7869-4924-3.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 Steve Perrin (December 1988). “The Tombs of Deckon Thar”. In Scott Martin Bowles ed. Lords of Darkness (TSR, Inc.), p. 21. ISBN 0-88038-622-3.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Steve Perrin (December 1988). “The Tombs of Deckon Thar”. In Scott Martin Bowles ed. Lords of Darkness (TSR, Inc.), pp. 26–27. ISBN 0-88038-622-3.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood et al. (December 1988). Lords of Darkness. Edited by Scott Martin Bowles. (TSR, Inc.), p. 79. ISBN 0-88038-622-3.