View source for Helmlands

{{Location
| image              = Cormyr - 1479 DR.jpg
| caption            = Cormyr in 1479 DR, with the Helmlands shown.
| name               = Helmlands
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| aliases            = Pits of Mystra
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| region             = [[Stonelands]], [[Cormyr]], [[interior Faerûn]]
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'''The Helmlands''' (initially known as the '''Pits of Mystra'''<ref name="FRA-p1,11">{{Cite book/Forgotten Realms Adventures|1,11}}</ref>) were a region of the southern [[Stonelands]] in [[Cormyr]] affected by persistent [[dead magic]] and [[wild magic]] fields originating from the death of [[Mystra]] at the hand of [[Helm]].<ref name="Cormyr-p6"/>

==Description==
Prior to the [[Time of Troubles]], the Helmlands were a section of the [[Storm Horns]] foothills forested with [[redwood]]s. With Mystra's death the region was torn apart and razed, filled with with thousands of [[tar pit]]s and erratic dead and wild magic fields. Over the next decade the land was mostly restored, but some tar pits remained and the [[Weave]] never fully recovered. The dead and wild magic shifted randomly and affected spellcasters and magic items, making magically-equipped ventures into the region extremely risky.<ref name="Cormyr-p6"/><ref name="Dra.362"/><ref name="FRA-p1,11"/>

The tenuously-intact fabric of reality also resulted in the Helmlands becoming weakly divinely morphic as it passed into alignment with random [[god]]s. This resulted in bizarre and potentially dangerous shifts in the weather and magical properties of the area, such as a tropical paradise forming in midwinter, instantaneously turning to a lethal winter storm, followed by dead animals spontaneously reanimating and fighting each other.<ref name="PoL-p?">{{Cite book/Prince of Lies|?|7}}</ref>

==Geography==
The Helmlands were part of the Stonelands along the eastern foothills of the Storm Horns centered around [[Castle Kilgrave]], close to [[Gnoll Pass]], [[Castle Crag]] and [[Redspring]].<ref name="Dra.365-p18"/><ref name="Cormyr-p6"/><ref name="FRA-p1,11"/> After the [[Spellplague]], the wild magic and dead magic zones extended as far west as the hills north of [[Eveningstar]].<ref name="Dra.362"/>

===Geographical Features===
The [[Redwoods]] were a forest of redwoods in the area that was destroyed when Mystra's death "blasted the land like a million Shou cannons." It slowly recovered, and by the late 15{{th}} century [[DR]] had regenerated a sizable forest north of Redsprings.<ref name="Dra.365-p18"/><ref name="Dra.362">{{Cite dragon/362/Countdown to the Realms: Spellplague: The Wailing Years}}</ref>

==Government==
Although within reach of Cormyr's authority, the Helmlands were dangerous wilderness and avoided by decent folk whenever possible. Bandits, raiders, and monsters made their homes there, protected from the [[War Wizards]] and other magic-users by the shifting magical fields. They made raids on the caravans on the [[Moonsea Ride]] and on nearby farms, villages and even [[Arabel]].<ref name="FRA-p1,11"/> Mercenary companies such as the [[Red Ravens]] made repeated forays into the region, but each time a group or beast was eliminated, a new threat filled the void shortly after.<ref name="Cormyr-p6"/>

==History==
Originally part of the uninhabited backlands of Cormyr, the Helmlands came to prominence during the [[Time of Troubles]] in [[1358 DR]] when [[Bane]] imprisoned [[Mystra]] at [[Castle Kilgrave]]. After she was rescued, her [[avatar]] challenged [[Helm]] at the [[Celestial Staircase]] there, only to be violently destroyed by his counterattack. Castle Kilgrave and the area around it was blasted to pieces by her death,<ref name="Shadowdale-p?">{{Cite book/Shadowdale/MMP (1989)|?|7}}</ref><ref name="FRE1.Shdw-p21">{{Cite book/Shadowdale (adventure)|21}}</ref> destroying the forest of [[redwood]]s and shattering the landscape. At first known as the Pits of Mystra because of the many tar pits, the region was later restored to an extent by the church of the new Mystra in the following years, and it became popularly known as the Helmlands instead.<ref name="Cormyr-p6"/><ref name="Dra.362"/><ref name="FRA-p1,11"/>

After his battle with Mystra, Helm shed a single tear from the anguish of his duty. This tear fell to earth and hovered above a large tar pit, becoming known as the ''[[Guardian's Tear]]''. The artifact was imbued with the chaos and calamity of Mystra's death, and began generating additional pockets of dead magic and wild magic that spread out across the land, causing the Helmlands to grow larger in time. King [[Azoun IV]] sent the [[Knights of the Shadows]] to investigate the phenomenon, and they found that a tribe of [[gnolls]] had found the ''Tear'' and had begun worshiping it as the ''rock of blue fire''. The Shadow Knights seized the ''Tear'' but were in turn assaulted by cultists of [[Malyk (demipower)|Malyk]], who disappeared with it into the [[Underdark]] to destroy the magocracy of [[Sshamath]].<ref name="VGtATM-p108-109">{{Cite book/Volo's Guide to All Things Magical|108-109}}</ref>

While King Azoun IV fought against the [[Grand Army of the Tuigan]] in [[1360 DR]], [[Zhentarim]] operatives led by [[Nith]] broke into the Crown's secure vaults and stole the ''[[Wyvern Crown of Cormyr]]'' and other artifacts. As they went north to meet [[Ashemmi]] in the Stonelands, they passed through the Helmlands, which reacted poorly with the powerful magical items they carried. The ''Wyvern Crown'' and other items were teleported randomly throughout the [[Heartlands]] of [[Faerûn]], leaving the Zhents bereft of prizes.<ref name="VGtATM-p122">{{Cite book/Volo's Guide to All Things Magical|122}}</ref>

Following the [[Spellplague]], the Helmlands expanded west along the Storm Horns, taking up much of the plateau and foothills north of [[Eveningstar]]. The old redwoods also returned in time, growing into a sizable forest again by the late 15{{th}} century DR.<ref name="Dra.362"/><ref name="Dra.365-p18">{{Cite dragon/365/Backdrop: Cormyr|18}}</ref>

==Rumors & Legends==
Persistent rumors in the 14{{th}} century [[DR]] held that Royal Magician [[Vangerdahast]] was working on a project to deal with the Helmlands. One variation claimed that he was going to eliminate the wild magic entirely, and another that he would simply transfer the field elsewhere so it would be someone else's problem.<ref name="Cormyr-p6"/>

==Appendix==
===Appearances===
{{Appearances
| adventures          = ''[[Shadowdale (adventure)|Shadowdale]]''
| adventure refs      = 
| novels              = ''[[Shadowdale (novel)|Shadowdale]]'';''[[Prince of Lies (novel)|Prince of Lies]]''  
| novel refs          = 
}}

===References===
{{Refs}}
[[Category:Magical locations]]
[[Category:Wastelands]]
[[Category:Locations in the Stonelands]]
[[Category:Locations in Cormyr]]
[[Category:Locations in the Eastern Heartlands]]
[[Category:Locations in North Faerûn]]
[[Category:Locations in Interior Faerûn]]
[[Category:Locations in Faerûn]]
[[Category:Locations on Toril]]
[[Category:Locations]]