Dead Tree Hollow was a village in the Vast.[1][2][3]
Geography[]
It lay on the North Road[1][2][3] between Dragon Falls and Swords Pool, where Blaern's Trail from Fallentree met the North Road.[1][2]
History[]
A very long time before the 14th century DR, but still within elven memory, the flying carriage of Lady Alauthshaee was attacked by Ilthuryn, her scorned suitor, with his spells. It supposedly crashed to earth within Dead Tree Hollow and Alauthshaee and her guards were subsequently buried alive. A side-effect of Ilthuryn's magic was to render the entire valley a dead-magic zone.[2][3]
The valley was once a camping spot for travelers on the North Road as they crossed the High Country.[4][2]
For many years, it was the site of an ancient and gnarled oak tree, so huge that its trunk was as wide as a regular cottage. It was also hollow and a druid once lived within, until a voracious dragon (thought to be Halarglautha[2]) burned the tree and forced him out.[2][3]
The location subsequently developed into the village known as Dead Tree Hollow by the late 14th century DR.[2][3]
In the Year of Lurking Death, 1322 DR, the village was ravaged by a wandering band of minotaurs who swept through as they passed. Most survivors moved to Ravens Bluff, with known members being the future Lord Magistrate Tordon Sureblade, his half-brother Guildmaster Thorm Sureblade and their father Wilhelm Sureblade. Thorm especially gathered the survivors to ambush and revenge against these minotaurs as a great loss and Thorm's right eye.[5][6]
Description[]
Dead Tree Hollow was a small valley that contained a number of ponds and wooded areas. It contained a small and sleepy village.[2][3]
It was famous for its fern-frond soup and fiddlehead soup (when it was in season), as well as its exotic mushrooms that gourmets all around the Dragon Reach clamored for.[2][3]
However, the entire valley was a dead-magic zone, apparently a result of Ilthuryn's spells.[2][3]
Notable Locations[]
The Blue Stallion was an inn in Dead Tree Hollow.[4] There was also a first-rate wagonworks.[2][3]
A local landmark was the ancient and enormous oak tree; once it was a druid's home, but after being burned down, it was little more than a rotten stump by 1370 DR.[2][3]
Rumors & Legends[]
The flying carriage of Lady Alauthshaee, and the great treasures within, was thought to be buried or sunk in a pond somewhere in Dead Tree Hollow. It also possibly still contained the bodies of Alauthshaee and her guards. Adventurers occasionally came to search the valley for it.[2][3]
Appendix[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Ed Greenwood (October 1998). The City of Ravens Bluff. Edited by John D. Rateliff. (TSR, Inc.), p. 145. ISBN 0-7869-1195-6.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 Ed Greenwood (October 1998). The City of Ravens Bluff. Edited by John D. Rateliff. (TSR, Inc.), p. 150. ISBN 0-7869-1195-6.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 Ed Greenwood (October 1993). “The Everwinking Eye: Treasures of the Vast, Part One”. In Jean Rabe ed. Polyhedron #88 (TSR, Inc.), p. 15.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ed Greenwood (October 1998). The City of Ravens Bluff. Edited by John D. Rateliff. (TSR, Inc.), p. 147. ISBN 0-7869-1195-6.
- ↑ The RPGA Staff (October 2001). “Pillars of Ravens Bluff”. In Erik Mona ed. Polyhedron #148 (Wizards of the Coast), p. 14–21.
- ↑ Richard Rydberg, et al. (August 1989). Gateway to Ravens Bluff, the Living City. Edited by Jean Rabe, Skip Williams, Ed Sollers. (TSR, Inc.), p. 20.