The Maerthwatch, also known as the Hills of Maerth, was a range of hills and mountains in southern Chessenta.[1][3][4]
Geography[]
The range extended in a crescent across southwest Chessenta, starting from the Adder Swamp in the northeast, then running southwest between the Akanamere and the Adder River, before heading west below the Akanul and finally arching northwest along the northern flank of the great Chondalwood. For much of its length it was just hills, only rising to mountains in its westernmost stretch beside the Chondalwood.[1][3][4][5] The range divided the Akanul plains from the Adder River valley.[1]
The hills were low yet rugged and craggy,[1][5] and held deposits of rare minerals and gems that were predominantly found here, such as beljurils, jacinths, and luspeel.[1][6]
Notable Locations[]
Many long-worked mines, some quite ancient, were scattered across the Hills of Maerth.[1]
It was ringed by the towns of Gaj, Villon, and Oslin.[1]
Circa 1357 DR, vast tracts of land in the Hills of Maerth were bought up by the famed archmage and planewalker Azurax Silverhawk.[1]
Inhabitants[]
In the 10th century DR, the mighty archmage Ultham, son of Urrekanam kept a tower in the Hills of Maerth. He had a great love of nearby Oslin and created the Magical Chessmen of Ultham-Urre from luspeel, beljurils, and jacinths found in the Hills of Maerth to defend the town before he journeyed into the planes, some time during the reign of King Tchazzar (929–1018 DR).[6]
The isolationist, nomadic giants known as geriviars wandered the lands between the Maerthwatch, Chondalwood, and the Black Ash Plain.[5]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
Different names have been given for this range. First, Old Empires uses both "Hills of Maerth" and "hills of Maerth" in equal measure, so it is unclear if the name should be "Maerth" or "Hills of Maerth". The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition map renames it to "Maerthwatch", which an error-riddled map in Dragons of Faerûn, page 70, misspells as "Maerwatch". Finally, The Grand History of the Realms pages 24 and 25, conflates the ranges with the Akanal, formerly plains. The latter two sources are assumed to be in error. It is possible that the "Hills of Maerth" refers to the hills section, while the "Maerthwatch" refers to the mountains section, but most maps apply the name to the whole range, so this is just speculation.
Appearances[]
Novels & Short Stories
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Scott Bennie (February 1990). Old Empires. Edited by Mike Breault. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 52, map. ISBN 978-0880388214.
- ↑ Richard Baker (1998). The Shadow Stone. (TSR, Inc), chap. 1. ISBN 0-7869-1186-7.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Map included in Ed Greenwood, Sean K. Reynolds, Skip Williams, Rob Heinsoo (June 2001). Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 0-7869-1836-5.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Eric L. Boyd, Eytan Bernstein (August 2006). Dragons of Faerûn. Edited by Beth Griese, Cindi Rice, Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 70. ISBN 0-7869-3923-0.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Andrew Finch, Gwendolyn Kestrel, Chris Perkins (August 2004). Monster Manual III. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 53. ISBN 0-7869-3430-1.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ed Greenwood, Eric L. Boyd (1996). Volo's Guide to All Things Magical. (TSR, Inc), p. 97. ISBN 0-7869-0446-1.