Hultail, in the distant past known as Rallyhorn,[1] was a small port village on the eastern side of the Wyvernwater in Cormyr, where locals felt a kinship towards their northern neighbors from the Dalelands.[2]
Description[]
The settlement was a small collection of buildings that lacked its own Cormyr-appointed Lord. Its main notable feature was Hultail being the only true port on the Wyvernwater and standing guard of the trade "secret door" to Cormyr.[2] The town's oldest historic neighborhood remained named after the founding family – Rallyhorn, a small smattering of streets around Rallyhorn Foregate street that connected the castle gate with what used to be cattle meadows, eventually turned into the streets of Hultail. The early streets of the Rallyhorn neighborhood once were the location of the town's tanneries and workers' huts, but eventually moved east, up the Wyvernwater, to remain closed to the receding Hullack Forest. In the 15th century DR, the neighborhood was a humble place where one could find weavers, garment-makers, and dyers.[1]
Geography[]
Hultail stood on the Hullack Trail that hugged the Wyvernwater's southern shores[6] and the Thunder Way, a wagon-trail, started at Hultail, moved through Cormyr, into the High Dale, and down to Sembia, ending in Saerb.[7]
Government[]
Lacking its own government, Hultail was lorded over by Wheloon, Sarp Redbeard in the late 14th century DR.[2] The only major noble house of Cormyr that had a holding in Hultail by the 14th century DR was the Wyvernspur family.[5]
Trade[]
The village stood along a less-known trade route that connected Cormyr through the High Dale, the Hooknose Crag, and down the Thunder River to Hultail. This trade entrance was called the "secret door" and received significantly less attention than the tree routes through the Thunder Peaks and the Vast Swamp. The "secret door" was used by those seeking quiet entrance to Cormyr and by the traveling Dalesmen. Hultail received business through traveling merchants from the Dales as well as from the smuggling operations that used the "secret door."[2]
Hultail's famous Trindar Shipyards was the largest producer of ships and vessels that traversed the Wyvernwater. Apart from shipbuilding, Hultail traded in fishing and running fish hatcheries. The Spawnhall, by Hultail's, hid a secret that helped the town with the fishing industry – a closely guarded deepspawn that created volumes of fish that was sold locally and exported to Suzail. Excess fish was used as fertilizer and ground into fishmeal for Sembian farmers.[4]
Defenses[]
Hultail was protected by a small group of militia.[5]
History[]
Before Hultail was a hamlet, it was the Rallyhorn Castle, home of an old noble Rallyhorn family of Cormyr, built by Lord Theldrin Rallyhorn. The town steadily grew around the castle that stood atop Rallyhorn Ho. Rallyhorn was renamed Hultail in the Year of Revealed Grimoires, 98 DR, following the rollout of the first naming laws of Cormyr, being the first settlement to do so.[1]
At some point, many years before the Year of the Shield, 1367 DR, an unnamed ettin was able to assemble a raiding party of goblins and orcs to carry out several attacks on the towns of Thunderstone and Hultail.[8] Another monster-related event involved a single ankheg killing forty-two cattle beasts on the farmlands outside of Hultail all within a month.[9]
As of the Year of the Ageless One, 1479 DR, three Crown mages of Cormyr were stationed in Hultail.[10] The posting was considered to be remote and of no particular importance.[11]
Rumors & Legends[]
- Locals believed that a faerie ring atop a certain hill in Hultail was the site of annual elven frolicking while they rested at the heart of the hill the rest of the year. This belief was false and dated back to inhabited Myth Drannor when its elves gathered on the faerie ring in a meeting with members of other elven communities, arriving there via gates.[4]
- Another legend talked about the Ring of Swords, nite talking blades of black metal that rose out of the waters of the Wyvernwater to threaten enemies of Hultail. Some believed that they could only be summoned by a Talassan and could not be awoken until nine days passed since the Ring's appearance.[4]
Notable Locations[]
- The Blue Dragon's Bones, a dark and dingy tavern named after a blue dragons demise on the very spot where it was built many years before the late 14th century DR.[4]
- The Plate of Eels, an eatery that specialized in freshwater eels, roasted chicken, crayfish, clams, and other lake fish, accompanied by quality strong beer.[4]
- Muranee's Old Treasures, a used clothing and footwear store ran by Muranee Crownlinden in the late 15th century DR.[12]
- Shrine to Waukeen, the shrine to the Merchant's Friend who did business with moneylenders and moneychangers.[3]
- The Sixcandles Inn, unrelated to similarly named inns in Ordulin and Suzail. It was an old and worn down establishment and the only inn in Hultail as of the late 14th century DR.[4]
- Spawnhall, a domed structure where the town's hatcheries were located and guarded by at least 40 Purple Dragons. Entry was only authorized by the Court in Suzail or Lord Redbeard in Wheloon, and fishmeal on offer was sold for 60 gp per wagonload.[4]
- Trindar Shipyards, busy and famous shipwright docks, ran by Surdan the ship-master in there late 14th century DR.[4]
Notable Inhabitants[]
- Arlburt Nammond, a cobbler whose shop stood on the Bell Lane in the southwestern part of the town, active in the late 15th century DR.[12]
- Avarelle Myntdown, a seamstress who lived on the Easting Lane in the late 15th century DR.[12]
- Fractus, a retired War Wizard who established a tower shop in the eastern Hultail in the mid-to-late 14th century DR, leading many to believe he was a spy for the Dragon Throne.[2][4]
- Sulimra, a beautiful painter and medicine maker from Turmish who settled in Hultail in the late 15th century DR.[12]
- Thaere Mrindormra, an aging half-elven healer in the late 15th century DR.[12]
- Vhaerikho Lhlandast, a halfling bootmaker from Saerloon in Sembia who settled in Hultail in the late 15th century DR.[12]
Appendix[]
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
- Adventures
- Referenced only
- Four from Cormyr
- Novels
- Elminster Enraged • Fire in the Blood
- Referenced only
- Murder in Cormyr • Spellstorm
- Video Games
- Neverwinter Nights: Wyvern Crown of Cormyr
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 So Saith Ed 2010-2016. (25-11-2021). Retrieved on 25-11-2021.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Ed Greenwood, Julia Martin, Jeff Grubb (1993). Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 2nd edition (revised), A Grand Tour of the Realms. (TSR, Inc), p. 51. ISBN 1-5607-6617-4.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 So Saith Ed Jan – Mar 2009. (25-11-2021). Retrieved on 25-11-2021.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 Ed Greenwood (July 1995). Volo's Guide to Cormyr. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 189–190. ISBN 0-7869-0151-9.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Eric Haddock (1994). Cormyr (inside cover). (TSR, Inc). ISBN 1-56076-818-5.
- ↑ Richard Baker, Bruce R. Cordell, David Noonan, Matthew Sernett, James Wyatt (March 2007). Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 152. ISBN 978-0-7869-4119-3.
- ↑ Richard Baker (1993). The Dalelands. (TSR, Inc), p. 31. ISBN 978-1560766674.
- ↑ James Butler, Elizabeth T. Danforth, Jean Rabe (September 1994). “The Cormyrean Marshes”. In Karen S. Boomgarden ed. Elminster's Ecologies (TSR, Inc), p. 23. ISBN 1-5607-6917-3.
- ↑ James Butler, Elizabeth T. Danforth, Jean Rabe (September 1994). “The Settled Lands”. In Karen S. Boomgarden ed. Elminster's Ecologies (TSR, Inc), p. 18. ISBN 1-5607-6917-3.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (September 2012). Elminster Enraged (Hardcover). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 20. ISBN 978-0786960293.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (September 2012). Elminster Enraged (Hardcover). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 22. ISBN 978-0786960293.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 Ed Greenwood (2023-01-15). Cobblers & Bootmakers (Tweet). theedverse. Twitter. Archived from the original on 2023-01-17. Retrieved on 2023-01-15.