Igo Umblar - Navigator of the Old Ones

Igo Umblar is probably best known today, when he is known at all, as the originator and constructor of the fabled Dungeons of Igo Umblar, located in the north among the River Jarls of the Storm King barbarians (near Icewall).  The Dungeons and the Icewall Steading are both located in the Darkearth Plains region, in the far, far north, near the Destriel Mountains (in fact, Icewall is pretty much at the edge of the Destriel Mountains).

Long ago, when even Ba'a Zarn was young, the Old Ones that peopled the world were hopeful that their ancient and elder gods, the elemental gods, would return to the world.  They did not have a regular religion, as such, but much of their pursuits revolved around contacting and communicating with their four elemental gods.  This involved long and intricate research and studies into magic, strange powers of the mind, understanding of the cosmic structure of the world and the spheres, and other forces that do not have a name today.

Notable and singular among the learned peoples of the Old Ones was Igo Umblar.  He was also called the Navigator.  Igo Umblar's gift was the construction of a cosmic flute, which when played, would create notes that not only could work great magic, but also could create resonances that went out past the sphere of this world, and touched the spheres of other worlds and realities.  In playing his flute - which he did at every dawn, at every starfall, and during every event of cosmic or natural consequence - Igo Umblar was sending out a signal for the elemental gods to navigate by, and to come to this world, returning to their people, the Old Ones.

Cosmic flute of Igo Umblar, with the captured star-being that is part of it

For millenia, Igo Umblar played his marvelous magical flute.  It was constructed out of wood from a bristlecone pine tree that was grown upside down from a floating stone (it is believed it was one of the stones circling the Earthroot at the City of Shadows).  Because the tree grew upside down, the wood from that tree has interesting properties in itself, but the notes that Igo Umblar plays were absorbed, changed, and let out loose again by the small captured star-being that was part of the flute.  The tiny magical creature would take the notes played by Igo Umblar, and turn them into the song of the elemental gods, singing and re-singing each note a thousand-thousand times in the space of the same instant, capturing those notes inside the magical wood of the flute, before letting out into the world.  The magical resonance is how the songs of Igo Umblar could reach out past the sphere of this world, into others.

While the Old Ones were certainly visited by many of the servitors and minions of the elemental gods, they never did return to this world.  Not yet.  However, once the Old Ones encountered the Elves and other folk of the Seely Court, and fought their war with them, Ba'a Zarn convinced Igo Umblar to use his flute to open up a road amongst the spheres, navigating a safe exodus out of the world for the Old Ones.  This was the last time the fabled flute of the star-being was played within this sphere, and the last time this reality resonated with the songs of Igo Umblar.

While he lived here, Igo Umblar dwelt in a magically constructed world underground, that he made with the amazing magic of his cosmic flute.  It was all underground, underneath what is now the massive Destriel Mountains glacier known as the Ice Father.  The underground realm had an entryway to the surface, through a massive castle in the ice and rock, but deep underground it contained amazing, magical dimensions.  Whole vast levels carved out of the rock and full of the stuff of other dimensions, other worlds.  In his magical astral contacts and wanderings, Igo Umblar did manage to contact and draw back many magical beings that were servitors to the elemental gods - the frenetic Gill'ios that worshiped the One beneath the Waves; the body-less star nomads that were mastered by their fear of the Lord of Fire; the mysterious thought-vampires of the Lady of the Air, and also the worm-maidens of the Earth Weaver.

Statue of Igo Umblar, constructed by one of the many magical races in his dungeon

These and many other creatures came back to live among the magic levels and domains in the Dungeons of Igo Umblar.  Many of these creatures came to regard Igo Umblar as a messianic figure, and were happy to serve him, in return for his bringing them out of service to the elemental gods.  Igo Umblar, whose goal was always contact and supplication of those very same gods, did not understand this.  But century after century of the paradox, and his mind began to crack.  In the end, it wasn't that all he did was to play his flute - all he COULD do was to play his flute.  The song took him over, and it was all there was left of him.  The last act he did, was when Ba'a Zarn came and begged him to sing out a path of exodus for the Old Ones away from the world-sphere that the Valley belongs to.

Flooded Keep of the Astromancer - Week of Adventures Location 8

This location was originally written up as part of the River Jarl steading in the Sildur Reaches, along the western shore of the Greywater, south near the Great River. The name of the steading is Northwind. The name of this location is the Flooded Keep of the Astromancer. It was location 8 (bonus location) in the Week of Adventure Locations.

Adventure Location: Southeast of the Northwind Steading, along the road to Na Kram, there is a vale next to the road that was once the home to a small castle, early Westroner construction, that housed a wizard who was very much interested in the goings on of the stars, the moons, and the other interesting bodies in the night sky.  It is said he was called Kassar Nabarns, but usually is referred to as the Astromancer.  At one point he made a lot of pronouncements concerning the deities of the Old Ones, and even sent off for some of the Archivists of Parn Tandalorn to come and visit and review his knowledge that he was amassing.  Before that occurred, however, he was visited by an angry wizard - some say a necromancer - who led an army of dead warriors.  There was, of course, a wizard's duel between the two, and their followers and guards.  Something happened to the astronomer, and his whole home, vale and all, were subjected to a deluge of waters.

Remaining castle tower of Kassar Nabarns, the astronomer

 Only the topmost tower of castle remains above water, but it is widely rumored that the whole area (lake, tower, vale) are haunted by a number of beings.  Depending on which alehouse you frequent, these beings vary from ghosts of the slain, to lake devils summoned to protect the tower and its contents.  The Archivists of Parn Tandalorn never did arrive (they heard about the duel before traveling this far north), but who knows what knowledge or magic the astronomer was able to amass in his castle?  All before being beaten by the necromancer. [This is location 8 in the finally finished Week of Adventure Locations].

City of Ohn Ohnan - Week of Adventures Location 6

This adventure location was first described in the write up on the River Jarl Steading of Clearwater.  Clearwater Steading is built right next to the mound of the King's Highway, at the point where the Greywater River passes through a long tunnel to go under the Highway.  At the mid point of this tiled tunnel, there is a side passage . . .

This was part of the Week of Adventure Locations, and it was Location number 6.  It is located along the Greywater River between the Darkearth Plains and the Sildur Reaches.

Adventure Location: As the Greywater flows under the King's Highway, it goes through an impressive tunnel, burrowed out and lined with very thick slate tiles throughout it's massive arch.  The interior height of the arch is nearly 160 feet, higher in some spots (the top surface of the King's Highway, in this area, stands some 300 feet up over the plains around it).  The river banks go right up against the tiled walls of the tunnel.  About half way through, on the western wall, there is a large opening that goes back into the mound of the King's Highway.

Side passage from the Greywater River

The opening is covered over by a massive bronze portcullis that is chained to stone pillars coming out from the tunnel walls on either side.  The opening is easily wide enough and tall enough for a vessel of a modest size to enter.  This sideflow of the river goes on for almost two miles, deep under the King's Highway.

The tiled ceiling and tunnel sides give away to rough rock, and eventually to stalactites.  Among them lurk all manor of subterranean hunters and predators.  Huge, aggressive, and hungry blind fish (of monstrous sizes, some 20 or 30 feet long) live in the almost always black river.  But, if this route is traversed, the explorer/adventurers will be rewarded with the river disappearing under a stone wall, with only inches of clearance. At this point, however, there is a stone jetty, with paths and stairways down deep into the earth, and eventually ending up at a ruined, and abandoned subterranean city.  The city is in a vast, huge, cavern (several miles across), with strange trees and plants growing in the subterranean light that is cast off the monstrous stalactites inside the cavern.

Underground City of Ohn Ohnan

 Legendarily known as the city of Ohn Ohnan, it is rumored to have once been a joint city of Mika-Born and the Old Ones, but it was destroyed by a crazed cult of madmen lead by an EHP of the Lord of Fire.  The ghosts of the Lord of Fire worshippers are rumored to haunt the ruins.  What else lives there now, is for the adventurers to discover. [This is location 6 in the Week of Adventure Locations]

Celerium of Great Truth - Week of Adventures Location 5

This adventure location, is in the Darkearth Plains region.  It was originally posted as part of the article on the River Jarl Steading of Rookroost.  There, it was a part of the Week of Adventures, location number 5.

Adventure Location:  Just west of Rookroost, halfway to the edge of the Great Owl Forest, there stands an empty monastery.  It was once built by traveling priests of the order of Brother Ian, to stand as a northern library of knowledge and information (it was to rival the great southern archivist site of Parn Tandalorn, but of course that never happened), to be called the Celerium of Great Truth.  The monks and nuns that settled there, following the heirarchy of priests leading the site, helped to work the land, and prepare an impressive structure.  All was going well, in the early days of the site.

Inside of the Grand Dome of the Celerium

 And then, one winter, there was a horrible raid by Marsh Trolls from up along terrapin.  It was never expected that these terrors would raid this far south, or the monks and nuns would have appealed to the Church bureaucracy for armed protection.  Well, the monastery was wiped out.  It stands, abandoned, now with the exception of some occasional beast men from the Great Owl Forest.  Rumors abound, however, that the reason the original site was chosen was because the original Priests understood there to be a repository of magic, or knowledge, or healing, or something (the tales differ) deep underground, and the Monastery is built over that site.  It certainly would be a site worthy of investigation by adventurers. [This is location 5 in the Week of Adventure Locations].

The Glade of Time - Week of Adventures Location 4

This area is located in the Darkearth Plains region, to the west of the Greywater River.  This information was originally posted, as part of the Week of Adventure Locations.The original was posted along with the description of the River Jarl steading of Hearth Home.  The Glade itself is to the west of Hearth Home, past the Ice Lake, and inside the borders of the Great Owl Forest.

Adventure Location: At a point north of the tower of Belue Gorm, just inside the Great Owl Forest, there is a glade of great repute.  It is difficult to find, more so since it relies on magic to keep itself hidden, but if one can locate it, at the center of the glade stands a singular tree, known as the Clock of the Great Druid.  It has been surmised that this tree, and it's peculiar magical properties, are due to magical machinations of the Master of the Silver Order of Druids, located not far away (in the Darkearth Plains) at the Star Tower in the southern reaches of the Aghanz Hills.  The Master of the Silver Order, however, has denied any participation in the construction of the Clock, and further maintains that the Masters and Mistresses preceding him had nothing to do with it either.  Still, the name Clock of the Great Druid remains.

Clock of the Great Druid - in the glade of time

Within the glade, time does not function in the normal predictable way.  It does not even function in any of the known magical ways that those learned in such things could predict or name.  It has the effect of opening up vistas and portals into the distant past, the far future, and everything in between.  Nor does it seem to be limited to the current location of the Glade.  Some anti-spherist astronomers claim that this gives support to their claim that the Valley, and all its inhabitants, are somehow moving through an etheric substance, so that the location of the Glade may change, but somehow the coordinates of the magical time portal do not.  This is rejected by most scholars, however.

The glade is a place where a band of adventurers can go to encounter all manner of unpredictable encounters, from all worlds and all times.  It is not uncommon, as is reported by the few who return, that both past and future versions of a visitor to the glade could be encountered.

One of the curious effects of the effects within the glade, is that it makes communication with certain elder beings, and their servants, possible.  As there is no way to control this, it seems unlikely that this was a desired effect, especially given the wholly damning and destructive nature of encounters with some of those beings, however it has been reported (or at least rumored).  It is possible, however, due to this characteristic of the glade, that the Clock was the construct of the Old Ones, maybe even Ba'a Zarn the builder.  [This is location 4 in the Week of Adventure Locations.]

The Scorch - Week of Adventures Location 3

The Scorch is an area of land near to the River Jarl Steading of the Bright Iron Fastness. It was originally written up as Location 3 in the Week of Adventure Locations.The land is just east of the Greywater River, in the region of the Sildur Reaches.

Adventure Location:  Southeast of Bright Iron, further south east even than the Stone Houses, there is a region along the border of the Orc Clan lands known as The Scorch.  This is a rolling plain, in the Sildur Reaches, among some gentle swells of the land, where all life has been burnt off.  This was done during one of the wars between the Huscarls of Bright Iron and the Orc Clans.  It was meant as a reminder of the edge of the Orc Clan Lands that Bright Iron would tolerate.  The land was burnt by fire brigands, summoned by fire wizards, from the great volcanoes and lava flows of the icy north, deep in the Destriel Mountains. 

These beings (the fire brigands), thought to be the servants of the Gods when they formed the mountains of the world, were brought forth and told to totally destroy all life in the area of the Scorch.  This they did, but in so doing it they also deposited all sorts of minerals and metals into the burnt land.  This has come to attract all sorts of adventurers and treasure seekers, for there are also gems (both magical and non-magical) among the curious deposits left by the fire brigands.  Once, not so long ago, a band of Mika-born (gnomes) came and built a fortified tower, along with deep dungeons and mines, in the center of the scorch.  From this they sought to exploit the area and relieve it of its treasured burdens that litter the landscape.  The expedition lasted about a generation, before it was totally wiped out by Orc Clans.  The tower, and it's dungeons, known as the Tower of Ontigar, still is there, and is awaiting the plundering of a band of adventurers.  [This is location 3 in the Week of Adventure Locations.]

Princess of Roses - Week of Adventures Location 2

The village of Aderback is nearby the River Jarl Steading of Seawyrm. It is located near the Greywater River, in the region of the Sildur Reaches.  Seawyrm is on the Eastern side of the Greywater River.


Adventure Location: Several days northeast of Seawyrm, towards the southernmost fingers of stony ridges coming down out of the Destriel Mountains, there is a curious village.  It is a village made of stone buildings, and surrounded by a stout palisade, to aid in warding off the Sword People who venture that way.  The village's name is Aderbak, and it is known to be the home of both the Princess of Roses, and the thorny portal.

The Princess of Roses is a fey princess, who has sworn to live in this realm, who as been blessed by her father (an Elven sorcerer from the Seely Court) to serve as a natural ward against incursions from the Unseely Realm.  She resides in Aderbak, because a peculiar connection to the Unseely Realm is there.

The thorny portal is stony rift in the ground, surrounded by guarded walls and overseen by towers manned by the Aderbak town guard, and occasionally by wandering Paladins from the Westroner cities (most commonly Knights of the Hearth, and Knights of the White Lady).  It is a permanent portal to a dark and constantly smoky plain in the Unseely Realm, at the center of which stands the great Brass Tower.  This is a mighty castle, peopled by all sorts of dark creatures, evil wizards, and goblin kind of all variety.  That the thorny portal itself cannot be closed remains a mystery, but occasionally adventurers will venture across the portal, into the Unseely Realm, for all manner of purposes. [This is location 2 in the Week of Adventure Locations]

Dungeons of Igo Umblar - Week of Adventures Location 1

This adventure location was originally part of the writeup on Icewall, the Riverjarl Steading.  This location is near the Greywater River, in the Darkearth Plains.  It is located on the River Jarl map.  It is adventure 1 in the Week of Adventure Locations.

Adventure Location: Several days journey, but not a journey to be undertaken by those unfamiliar with the Ice Father, across the glacial ice - there lies a series of small villages of ice people. They live in curious round houses, made of ice and snow, and live by hunting ice worms and sometimes ride ice spiders in great hunts for the white frost-yaks that live on the glacier.

Among these ice people is said to be knowledge of a hollowed out rift in the glacier, where the mouth of an ancient castle, long buried by the ice.  This castle, which lies mostly underground (and almost all under ice) was perhaps built by the Old Ones.  Regardless, today the ice people believe it is home to the feared four armed glacial beast.  The glacial beast is a very large (12' tall) clawed creature that lives on man flesh.  The glacial beast is rumored to be able to run silently, among the swirling blind driving snow of the northern blizzards, and attacks caravans of travelers who are foolish enough to be out on the ice during such storms.  Among the ice people, there is  a tradition of hunting the glacial beast as a mark of entry into adulthood.  Both male and female members of the ice people tribe take part in this hunt, and it involves small teams of the tribe members who are coming of age each winter to go out among the fiercest of storms, carrying only spears tipped with narwhal horns, and riding the ice spiders that they are fond of .  Occasionally, a small band of these villagers attempting to prove that they are worthy hunters will return with the severed claws of a glacial beast.  Equally likely, however, are the years when none return.

Glacial entrance to the dungeons of Igo Umblar

Other than being the home of the glacial beast, however, the icy covered black stone castle entrance is likely to be the portal to one of the most mysterious locations in the north - the fabled dungeons of Igo Umblar.  Igo Umblar is legendarily known among the archivists as the astral navigator who eventually led some of the Old Ones to leave after the ancient troubles with the members of the Seely Court.  His underground domain would certainly be a dungeon worth exploring, and should be home to all sorts of enigmatic treasures, as well as fearsome creatures left over from the reign of the Old Ones. [This is location 1 in the Week of Adventure Locations]

Sildur Reaches - Sandbox Map

[I have let this blog go mostly dormant, since September of 2012.  That was when I started teaching my first semester as a Professor at Columbus State University, and I have been busy.  However, I was working away on a number of different parts of the Valley of the Old Ones, although my current gaming interests take me in the directions of doing the next inter-river region of the world, the Sildur Reaches.  I am developing this in the manner of an Old School sandbox region, for players to explore and adventure in, without an over-riding plot or adventure theme.  The first step, of course, is a hexmap of the region . . .] 

So, here is the map of the Sildur Reaches, developed using Hexographer (a fantastic program, I highly recommend it).  Each hex on the map represents 25 miles across.  This is a region approximately 1000 miles wide, and about 600 miles from north to south.  My plans, for sandbox gaming, are to pick one or two areas, and then do a higher detail (smaller scale - probably 5 mile hexes, similar to the old Judges Guild village book hexmaps) treatment, showing lairs, adventure sites, dungeons, ruins, etc.

On the map can be seen the two main cities of the Sildur Reaches, Botts and Na Kram.  Also a number of other features.  In the western part of the Reaches, a lot of the details from the previous work on the Greywater Jarls is visible, including a number of the Steadings of the Jarls.  Here is a list of the main features, by hex number, of this map.

0115 - Furlingga Gnolls (tribal area) Home of a number of roaming tribes of Gnolls.

0303 - Steading of Icewall - Icewall is the name of the northern most of the River Jarl steadings.  It is the home of a very powerful clan of Storm King barbarians, the Isvater clan.  The current head of the clan is Kolfinn Haukson.  He is an old warrior, ruling his great clan, and his huscarls, with a firm but fair manner.  He has a daughter, Vigdis Kilfinndottr - who is young, lovely, and given to romantic adventures.  She has a group of friends, all young ladies, who attend her on all manner of adventures.

0508 - Steading of Rookroost - Rookroost is the name of the steading of the Daughters of the River Raven.  It was once an impressive castle, built high on a rocky abutment that rises some 200 feet above the surface of the Erantor river, which runs out of the Great Owl Forest, to join the Greywater River.  Today, the remains of the ancient castle are still standing, but the steading itself is built into the stone mound that it stands upon.

0512 - Steading of Clearwater - Near the point where the Greywater River passes under a great arch, to run beneath the King's Highway, there stands two fascinating structures. The first, of course is the tall, wide raised up artificial ridge that the King's Highway is built on.  As detailed elsewhere, this artificiality was built by the Old Ones, probably by Ba'a Zarn the Builder.  Up against this raised up ridgeline rises the small castle (steading) of Clearwater.

0516 - Northwind Steading - The furthest south of all the River Jarl Steadings, Northwind is further south than the King's Highway, almost half the distance between the King's Highway and the Great River.  Some way south along the river, is the great ferry crossing of the Greywater, marking the point where the road between the baronies of Huygen and Na Kram cross the Greywater river.

0612 - Steading of Mead Hall - There is a skald's song that starts out "Mead Hall, Mead Hall - Home of Heroes Brave and Tall!"  And it has, indeed, been a home for many heroes over the years.  If there is a Steading of Storm King barbarians that fits the stereotypes that Westroners believe in - it is definitely Mead Hall.

0706 - Steading of Bright Iron -The current Jarl of Bright Iron is called Garret Fingolsson.  His name is a curious one for a Storm King barbarian - since it includes a Westroner first name, but it was the name his father (Fingol the Just) gave him.

0708 - Stone Houses (ruins) - Immediately southeast of Bright Iron, just on the outskirts of the tended agricultural lands under the protection of Jarl Garret's fyrdmen, lay the lands of the Stone Houses.  The Stone Houses are curious round structures, long since out of use by their original inhuman builders, made of stacked stones.  The are similar to a Broch, or round house, that is built by some of the distant Storm King barbarians, however the roofs are all long since rotted off, and some of the stone walls are crumbling. What is curious about the structures, is that they are built for giant beings.  Larger than an ogre, whomever it was that first peopled these stone houses must have been of a great stature, perhaps 15 feet tall?  The typical stone house (as pictured below) has a first story that is partially underground, and then usually two more stories above that, and a peaked roof.  Sometimes the roofs are present (when they were made out of slate or other stone) and sometimes they are long gone (when they were made out of material that would have rotted with age, such as wood or thatch).  The typical structure is approximately 70 tall (at the peak of the roof), and about 80' across the base, at ground level.  Of course, there is variation, so some exist that are taller or shorter, and either bigger or smaller around.

0801 - Rockhome Dwarven Kingdom - Rockhome is a city built into a mountain's roots, it is the capital of a kingdom of Dwarves that exists largely underground.

0811 - Orc Clans (tribal area) - Home of a number of tribes of roaming Orcs.

1004 - Steading of Seawyrm - Seawyrm is the northern most steading of the River Jarls along the Upper Greywater River.  It is still a long way short of the edge of the Destriel Mountains, so the Upper Greywater is quite broad and wide by the time it reaches the shore where Seawyrm is constructed.

1011 - The Scorch - Southeast of Bright Iron, further south east even than the Stone Houses, there is a region along the border of the Orc Clan lands known as The Scorch.  This is a rolling plain, among some gentle swells of the land, where all life has been burnt off.  This was done during one of the wars between the Huscarls of Bright Iron and the Orc Clans.  It was meant as a reminder of the edge of the Orc Clan Lands that Bright Iron would tolerate. 

1018 - Town of Jinette - A walled independent town along the road between Na Kram and Huygens to the west. Population 4,250.

1107 - Sword People (tribal area) - These tribes of vicious and primitive savages are found mostly to the east, across the open plains between the Upper Greywater and the Shadow Woods.  These plains are known as the Blood Veldt.  The Sword People are a simple, bloodthirsty culture of savage barbarians that live in crude tribal groups (with simple shelters of sticks and skins that they erect), and make their basic economy by hunting the wooly rhinos of the Blood Veldt, and the herds of giant reindeer.  Occasionally, and all too frequently, they will have some sort of religious frenzy where the young warriors of the tribes will go on a blood frenzy, traveling in random directions, and slaying any and every living thing they come across, leaving the dead just to rot.  This is where the name Blood Veldt comes from...

1115 - Mongrelbeast Herds - East of Mead Hall, out across the Fields of Aton, between the Greywater River, and the Barony of Na Kram, roam the Mongrelbeast Herds.  These are herds of giant elk, as found in other regions of the valley north of the Great River, but the herds here have been affected by some foul strain of Old One magic.  A long time ago, a savage primitive people, similar to the Sword People north of the King's Highway in the same region, would wander and travel with the Giant Elk herds that have been trapped south of the King's Highway, since it was constructed.  These people, called the Elkmen, would wander with the herds, culling some now and again for food and skins, but mostly living with them in peace, and for protection.  The Elkmen had semi-domesticated some of the beasts to pull their great wheeled huts.  The king of the Elkmen lived in a massive giant wheeled hut called the Roaming House.

1303 - Village of Aderbak - Several days northeast of Seawyrm, towards the southernmost fingers of stony ridges coming down out of the Destriel Mountains, there is a curious village.  It is a small village made of stone buildings, and surrounded by a stout palisade, to aid in warding off the Sword People who venture that way.  The village's name is Aderbak, and it is known to be the home of both the Princess of Roses, and the thorny portal.

1417 - City of Na Kram - Baronial seat of the Na Kram Barony.  Home to the Dungeons of Borleos, a fearsome prison. Hol Kram, the Cathedral of Starry Wisdom, dedicated to Saint Gianna the Oracle, is located in Na Kram.  Population, 18,000.

1502 - Kingdom of the Great Bears - Home of a race of intelligent, magic using cave bears.

2116 - Town of Haaksen - Independent walled town at the crossroads on the road between Na Kram and Wall Morton. Population 4,800.  The Hospital of the Pierced Pelican is here - a religious hospital run by Sisters of the order of St. Brigid.


2812 - Town of Wall Morton - Independent town, with main buildings built on poles in the great Vinemorton Swamp, along the King's Highway. Population 5,200, although mostly outliers.

2819 - Town of Gavaar - Independent trading town on the northern bank of the Great River.  Home of the Corsairs of Iron, funded by the Shiaress of Gavaar. Population 4,700.

2821 - Town of Roesen - Independent trading and fishing town on the southern bank of the Great River.  Rival to the Shiaress of Gavaar, the Patriarch of Roesen funds the Ka'Bleez Marine - a small flotilla of patrol craft to protect trading ships from harassment by the Corsairs of Iron. Population 5,400.

3111 - City of Botts - Baronial seat of the Barony of Botts.  Home to the bardic college of Brandismore, and also to the Grand Lyceum of Abjurative Sorcery.  The Bardic College of  Brandismore is located at Feyd Hall.  The Lute Master of the Hall is Mistress Leanarra Gwayne.  The school of Abjuration is located in the heart of the city of Botts.  It is a walled campus of several buildings built upon a shining plaza made out of curious metals from a fallen asteroid. The head of the Lyceum is the Abjurer Glub Nar (male, human).  Tolbe Cathedral (the Orphans' Cathedral) is located here, and is dedicated to St. Lilliane.  Population, 17,500.

3507 - Fire Mountain - This curious volcano is riddled with layers and layers of caves and cavern complexes.  It is home to a number of dragons, amongst other fouler creatures.

3809 - Town of Willow - Walled riverbank town that runs a ferry crossing the Fa'Ars River. Population 4,400.

Week of Adventure Locations - Finished!

I finally completed my self-imposed task of crafting eight new, and different, adventure locations. One along with each of the eight different River Jarl steading descriptions written during, roughly, the previous week.

The adventure locations could serve anyone with some inspiration for a new adventure, and will likely serve me in the same way in the future.  Form the location, there is enough to generate a map, encounters, rumors, and all of the normal back story that would be necessary for a single evening, or a mini-campaign event.  I would like to generate some of that material here, even if it is still in a generic way (monster and NPC descriptions; maps; sandbox suitable encounter descriptions; etc)

The eight locations, with a brief tagline, are these:

Dungeons of Igo Umblar - Dungeons, in a glacier, of the Astral Navigator that helped the Old Ones depart the valley, long ago.  Described at the end of the write up on the Steading of Icewall.

Village of Adderbak - This village is the home to the Thorny Portal - a permanent portal to the Unseely Realm.  It is defended by an Elfin maiden known as the Princess of Roses.  Described at the end of the write up on the Steading of Seawyrm.

Tower of Ontigar - A gnomish tower, at the center of a destroyed and blasted land known as Scorch, is the home of a mining operation for the rich gems that once littered Scorch.  The tower and its dungeons remain, unplundered.  Described at the end of the write up on the Steading of Bright Iron.

Glade of Time - In the Great Owl Forest, there is a glade, containing a magical clock tower (called the Clock Tower of the Great Druid, but the title's origin is unknown).  The glade itself seems to be a curious point where time does not exist normally, and future and past versions of places, people, and visitors to the glade appear and reappear occasionally during any day.  Described at the end of the write up on the Steading of Hearth Home.

Celerium of Great Truth - An abandoned monastery, that was supposed to be a northern counterpart to the great Archive at Parn Tandalorn.  The monastery was wiped out by raids from nearby marsh trolls, but the secrets of why this site was chosen originally, are buried deep underground in the multi-levle dungeons under the ruins.  Described at the end of the write up on the Steading of Rookroost.

Port City of Ohn Ohnan - This is an (abandoned) port city, built along a tributary to the Greywater River, that flows underground (under the King's Highway).  It was built as a joint venture between the Old Ones and a group of Gnomes, long, long ago.  What originally wiped out this city, and what lives in the ruins now, would have to be answered by an expedition.  Described at the end of the write up on the Steading of Clearwater.


Roaming House of the Elkman King - The great roaming house - essentially a very large, luxurious yurt - that is pulled by a matched team of giant elk.  The tribe moves all around the Fields of Aton, and might be difficult to track down, but should provide some interesting if found.  Described at the end of the write up on the Steading of Mead Hall.

Flooded Tower of Kassar Nabarns - The astronomer-wizard Kassar Nabarns had discovered something interesting, in the stars, concerning the Old Ones and their deities.  Before he could share his knowledge, however, his castle, and the surrounding valley, were flooded in a wizard's duel.  Described at the end of the writeup on the Steading of Northwind.

Northwind - River Jarl Steading (8)

The furthest south of all the River Jarl Steadings, Northwind is further south than the King's Highway, almost half the distance between the King's Highway and the Great River.  Some way south along the river, is the great ferry crossing of the Greywater, marking the point where the road between the baronies of Huygen and Na Kram cross the Greywater river.

The great ferry (there are actually two vessels, the service back and forth across the river is simply referred to as "the great ferry" although the individual boats are called "Azano Runner" and "Byloo Swift") is operated from a great walled keep, and watch tower, high up on a rocky cliff of the western bank of the river.  This keep and tower are named the Lisman Keep after the builder.  It is manned by a group of mostly Westeroner men at arms, drawn from Huygen, Na Kram, and further baronies.

Lisman Keep

The far side of the river, across from Lisman Keep, is the Storm King village of Eidelthorpe.  It is a small town, and only serves to house the guards for the slave rowers of the ferries (see below), and as a source of horses, and sleeping quarters, for travelers.

Eidelthorpe

The two vessels, the Azano Runner and the Byloo Swift, are propelled by slave rowers, taken from the prisons at Huygen.  The vessels themselves are considered off-grounds (a point of honor for the captains and huscarls of Northwind, and elsewhere) for viking raids, and other attacks.

Westroner image of the ferries, from the Book of Huygen

Northwind is a steading that boasts a very large, and powerful, fleet of dragon ships.  It is in a position to challenge attack from any small group of other Steadings, not to mention the single freebooters on the river, or even the large turtle ships and battle barges to be found along the Great river, somewhat more to the south.

The current Jarl of Northwind, Finndar Hatholsson, has turned over the organization of the Huscarls and dragon ships for the annual raids to his son, Rolfar Finndarsson.  Finndar himself has selected a hand picked band of his twenty favored huscarls, some skalds and a wizard (Amsil Uropp), and has traveled west to the lands of the Furlingga Tribes.  There he wages war against the strongest chiefs among the Furlingga, and is attempting to make a great name for himself and his men, all the while attempting to break up the Furlingga.  His original band has grown, attracting a number of other warriors, both from Northwind and also from Mead Hall (heroes from Mead Hall are never reluctant to join such a venture).  The war they are waging against the Furlingga gnolls has met with some success, but the complete difference in numbers is daunting to an outsider.

Finndar Hatholsson and his men, searching for Furlingga gnolls

The write up of the Flooded Keep of the Astromancer was originally part of this article, but it has been removed and made into its own blog entry.  It was originally part of the Week of Adventure Locations.

Clearwater - River Jarl Steading (6)

Near the point where the Greywater River passes under a great arch, to run beneath the King's Highway, there stands two fascinating structures. The first, of course is the tall, wide raised up artificial ridge that the King's Highway is built on.  As detailed elsewhere, this artificiality was built by the Old Ones, probably by Ba'a Zarn the Builder.  Up against this raised up ridgeline rises the small castle (steading) of Clearwater.  It is a small castle (measured against the Westroner standard for such things - even a wealthy knight in one of the Baronies might have a larger castle), but it's location (right up against the King's Highway) makes it notable.  Add to this the facts that the upper levels of the steading have a commanding view of the highway up on the ridge, and that the rocky knob that the steading is built on is surrounded by a pool, requiring small (defensible) foot bridges for access, and it is a very important (and defensible - at least against attack by ground forces) strong hold.

Clearwater, surrounded by its protective pool,
and built in the shadow of the King's Highway

But it was pointed out that there are two fascinating structures here - the first being the Clearwater steading (called simply, Clearwater), but the other is the Gazing House.  Up on the raised up mound that the King's Highway runs along, in this area, there is a peculiar structure built of Amberstone.  It is very much like an open-balcony'd and terraced villa, similar to those built in the southern country, but it is ancient.  Certainly built by the Old Ones, it is not known what its original function is.

In the center of the Gazing House, which consists of apartments and balconies, built in a square, around a central open plaza - there is a large (12 feet across) brazier with a pool of water in it that always seems to be catching a drip of water in the center.  There is no source for the drip, just a constant trickle outward from where such would fall.  It has been noted that the brazier, and its contents of water, have magical properties, and once every two months, when all three moons are visible within the water of the brazier, the dripping temporarily halts, and it is said that you can see the future by gazing into the smooth clear pool of water.  In the dug out halls and chambers deep into the mound of the King's Highway that the Gazing House is built on, there are fissures and cracks that open up to deep underground caverns and stretch endlessly.  Here, there seems to be a large culture of lizard men that have a curious rite of shamans worshiping the One Beneath the Waves, and seeking to bring him up out of his slumber to destroy the surface world.

Gazing House, looking down on Sordling,
and the northern run of the Greywater from up on the King's Highway.

The current Jarl of Clearwater is Tewar Dorfsson.  There is a nearby port town called Sordling, built along the Greywater, that serves as the home of the dragon ship fleet of the Clearwater steading. The Huscarls, and many leading members of the household and even fyrd leaders all live (with their families) in the Clearwater stronghold, but most of the rest of the steading's population live in small agricultural communities around the steading and Sordling.  All of them, however, are north of the King's Highway.  There is an uneasy truce with Rookroost, and almost a constant state of feuding with viking parties from Mead Hall

The description of the City of Ohn Ohnan was originally part of this article, when it was written during the Week of Adventure Locations.

Posting update and Schedule

The eight Steadings of the River Jarls are still being posted.  The first five have been done, only three remain:  Clearwater, Mead Hall, and Northwind.  All three of these offer interesting setting descriptions, I think, and they each have an associated Adventure Location (which continues, and will finish, the Week of Adventure Locations).


In generating the Adventure Locations, references were made to locales, encounters, monsters and other elements.  These are planned to be detailed in the next week or two, so more content is on the way.

Further out, the three cities of Khomaes (home of the Diamond Villas, and the Glamor Hall for Bewitchment and Entrancement, and near the Purple Marsh), Werms (location of the Demesne of Planar Knowledge and Magical Petitioning), and Huygen (site of the wretched Black Prison of Volvedma) will need to be detailed with their own postings, and a little bit more about the other features of the Darkearth Plains (aside from what has already been done).  Then it is on to the next in the inter-river regions, between the Greywater and Fa'Ars River.  That area, the Sildur Reaches, includes the two cities of Botts (including the Bardic College of Brandismore, and the Grand Lyceum of Abjurative Sorcery) and Na Kram.  Also the Shadow Woods, Craggy Hills, Fire Mountain, and the curious Tears of Heaven (which is also Giant country).

Still working on the ValleyWiki idea...

Rookroost - River Jarl Steading (5)

Rookroost is the name of the steading of the Daughters of the River Raven.  It was once an impressive castle, built high on a rocky abutment that rises some 200 feet above the surface of the Erantor river, which runs out of the Great Owl Forest, to join the Greywater River.  Today, the remains of the ancient castle are still standing, but the steading itself is built into the stone mound that it stands upon.

The Erantor is not a particularly wide river at this point (only about 500 yards from bank to bank), but wide enough to require ferries and other means of crossing.  It is also not particularly deep, but it does run swiftly down from the hilly rises of the eastern Great Owl Forest, and cuts deep into the rocky terrain of this area.

Rookroost built into the the rocky escarpment named Carnockle rock.  The ruins of the ancient castle offer a commanding view of the Erantor, and in the distance, even the Greywater can be spotted.

Rookroost is the home of the Daughters of the River Raven.  As a group of Storm King barbarians, this steading is really at odds with the other steadings in the area.  The reason for this is the culture of the Daughters.  The steading is ruled by a woman (which is not unheard of amongst the Storm King tribes), however, all of her huscarls are also women.  This is rare, and it is perpetuated by the culture of the steading.  Long ago, the Black Chieftain, in an attempt to slay the son of the Storm King, put on the disguise of a great black wolf, and he followed Tyrros, the prince of thunder, to a lonely spot on the Greywater, and under cover of darkness, he almost slew the son of the Storm King.  However, Tyrros summoned his two great blue oxen, Glangor and Feory, and they came and trampled the Black Chieftain in his guise as a black wolf. This allowed Tyrros to escape with his life.

The great black wolf lay on the bank of the greywater, bleeding out his life's blood, when he was discovered by runewoman, once very powerful, who lived in the empty towers of the castle what would become to be known as Rookroost.  She was flying in the guise of a giant raven, known as the River Raven (she would fly up and down the Greywater, the Terrapin, and even the Erantor, every night in the form of a giant raven, as part of a curse put on her by a devil, in exchange for her seeing ability).  She saw the wolf, had pity on him, and landed to take care of him.  In daylight, once again in the form of a runewoman, she took him back to her home high up on Carnockle rock, and slowly brought the black wolf back to life.  Some say as a raven she came to love the wolf, some go further to say as a woman she came to love the wolf.  Far to the east, in the Riven Moor, this legend is known, and some attribute the fell beasts and death birds that haunt the barrows there as the children of the River Raven and the black wolf.

The story is as it is, but over the years woman of stature from among the tribes and steadings would occasionally have disagreements with the men of their steading.  In many cases, these would flee to Rookroost and join the community there.  The population of the steading is near to parity - half women and half men - yet those who hold power and positions of authority are all women.  And they all revere the River Raven and her innocent love for the black wolf (even though, when pressed, all would clearly admit that he was the Black Chieftain, or Helgor).

The current leader of the Daughters is Jarless Embra Innamor.  She rules fairly, but does not have much use for trade or bargains with the other steadings.  The Daughters of the River Raven (although this is properly the nickname of Embra Innamor's woman huscarls, it is also applied to the community in general) have a small, but efficient fleet of small dragon ships.  These are able enough to travel up and down the Erantor, down to the Greywater, and can transport fyrd and huscarl warriors, but would not do to stand up to the dragon ships of one of the larger steadings in a battle.

As to the original origins of the castle on Carnockle Rock, it is assumed to be very, very old.  Whether it was built by the Old Ones or not is a matter of conjecture.  When the gather of the Daughters began to dig into the rock to make their steading, they did find a number of underground structures already there.  Some of these still exist, and who knows how many more, still deeper than the Daughters themselves have burrowed out.

There was originally an adventure location that was described as part of this description of Rookroost.  That was part of the Week of Adventure Locations, and it was location number 4, The Celerium of Great Truth, which is a ruined library, halfway between the western edge of Rookroost, and the Great Owl Forest.

Hearth Home - River Jarl Steading (4)

Hearth Home is the ancestral home of the White Wolf, a very long lived warlock (self-styled) that rules with an iron claw, but is also very protective of his people.  The steading itself is a series of stone mead halls, with a central "great hall" that is actually a multilevel towering affair, with lots of balconies and towers.  It stands atop a great dungeon complex, built years ago by the original followers of the White Wolf.

Great Hall of the White Wolf

The palisade-circled city that surrounds the mead halls overlooks a curious feature of the land.  There was once a lake, with a number of streams and a single river (the Moonharp lake, fed by the Shining River) that ran down into the Great Owl Forest.  Many, many years ago there was a fight in this are between Helgor and the Storm Lady, Othero.  In the battle, Othero fired her bow, Icefinger, three times at Helgor.  All three times, Helgor deftly dodged the frozen missiles fired by the Storm Lady.  But all three of them fell into the Moonharp Lake.  The lake itself was instantly frozen by the first, and the ice made thicker and deeper with the two successive shots.  To this day it stands frozen solid, even in the bright sun of the short, but warm, northern summer.

In the middle of the Ice Lake, which itself is 5 miles across, there stands a rough concentric wall and tower, both made of ice.  These have been constructed by the surviving members of a tribe of Fish Men (Ichor Lang) that lived in the lake at one time. There is a rough truce between the Fish Men and the men of Hearth Home, but that truce does not extend to travelers, or others on the eastern shores of the lake.  The culture and practices of the Fish Men has been described as "vile and disgusting - cursed by the gods" by some skalds and rangers that have encountered them.

Ice Castle of the Ichor Lang (Fish Men)

The Shining River has dried up, for the most part, but the lands in and around it are a sort of marshy territory.  The amount of moisture, and free standing water, in the marsh varies widely during the year, and it serves as a hunting ground for some of the far-ranging Fish Men, as well as other beings that live there, and even more that wander up in search of prey, out of the Great Owl Forest.

South of the steading, almost on the border of the Great Owl Forest, stands a curious tower, nicknamed by wanderers from Hearth Home as the "tower of the world's ending".  It is not known where this nickname comes from, but it could be that the rolling hills that the Hearth Home is part of, finally flatten out, and give way to the very dense Great Owl Forest, and the lands of the tower are at the point where they meet.  Or it could have to do with the sorcerer Belue Gorm who built the tower.  Belue Gorm was obsessed with the long forgotten (by sane men) elder beings that the Old Ones worshiped, especially the Lord of Fire.  The sorcerer felt that the world, since the Old Ones had departed, had fallen into corruption and misuse, and that it was the duty of those who remembered the elder beings from the beginning of time (and before) should seek to recall them to this domain.  In order to do that, at least with the Lord of Fire, Belue Gorm was seeking about a way to bring about the end of most of life within the Valley (and else where) by means of magical fire.  How far he got in his studies, and how successful he might have been, it will never be known, for a war party of Elfin warriors came and laid waste to the tower, and threw down the dead body of Belue Gorm.  It is rumored that the White Wolf was asked by the Fey war party for assistance, and refused.  This story is used to explain the curious rift between the men of Hearth Home and any and all representatives of the Seely court.

Tower of Belue Gorm

In spite of what the Elfin warriors wrought against Belue Gorm, the "tower of the world's ending" still stands, and the dungeons underneath it are unplumbed to this day.


During the Week of Adventure Locations, the writeup of The Glade of Time was originally part of this article on Hearth Home.  This was location 4.

Seawyrm - River Jarl Steading (2)

Seawyrm is the northern most steading of the River Jarls along the Upper Greywater River.  It is still a long way short of the edge of the Destriel Mountains, so the Upper Greywater is quite broad and wide by the time it reaches the shore where Seawyrm is constructed.

The walled town is the seat of the Jarl, Scrimjar the Axe.  Scrimjar has been the Jarl for 48 years, and comes from humble beginnings.  Previous to his reign, the Trondvar clan ruled Seawyrm.  Scrimjar was born as a thrall, to poor serf parents, but rose through the fighting schools to compete in the warrior contests that Seawyrm is known for.  As he got more and more popular, his number of followers (and his monetary winnings) grew.  He eventually had enough to buy his (and his family's) freedom from serfdom, and joined a freebooter dragonship crew to go on viking raids up and down the Upper Greywater river.  Having returned from such a journey as the leader of his ship's crew (and several other liege ships), Scrimjar got into a dispute with the elder Bjarne Trondvar, and it came to a fight of honor, where Scrimjar slew Bjarne's chief huscarl (Holvin Heigvarson), and then Bjarne himself.  Since he has been the ruler of Seawyrm.

Riverfront of the Steading of Seawyrm

The city is known for two things - first, the steep, and strong, walls facing the east.  More on these follows below.  Second, the city is also known for the fleets of dragon ships that it is home to.  Many of these river wolves ply their viking trade up and down the river, and even down into the Greywater itself.  It is not an uncommon report that tells of Seawyrm dragon ships reaching even the Great River.

One of the reasons for the raiding and trading that the dragon ships of Seawyrm are constantly at is because the city has almost no agriculture to boast of.  Almost every household in the walled steading (which has a population of approximately 2500 regular citizens - about a third of which are out of the city at any one time on viking expeditions) boasts some small garden for minor root vegetables and herbs, and it is not uncommon to have some of the northern shaggy goats of the region living on the nearly flat thatched roofs of the peasant houses.  In the trade districts of the city, more common slated and planked roofs are common, but among the commoners (and even some of the trades people) the thatched roofs (and their goats) are common.  It is a source for dairy, and occasionally meat, for a city that has little access to regular agricultural land.

The reason for the steep walls, on the eastern (land facing) side of the Steading is because of the Sword People.  These tribes of vicious and primitive savages are found mostly to the east, across the open plains between the Upper Greywater and the Shadow Woods.  These plains are known as the Blood Veldt.  The Sword People are a simple, bloodthirsty culture of savage barbarians that live in crude tribal groups (with simple shelters of sticks and skins that they erect), and make their basic economy by hunting the wooly rhinos of the Blood Veldt, and the herds of giant reindeer.  Occasionally, and all too frequently, they will have some sort of religious frenzy where the young warriors of the tribes will go on a blood frenzy, traveling in random directions, and slaying any and every living thing they come across, leaving the dead just to rot.  This is where the name Blood Veldt comes from...

Sword People

A curious encounter in the area are the rare Lionman warriors, up from the south of the Great River, who decide to go on a vision quest.  They do this, by traversing (alone, usually, but sometimes with specific companions) the plains between the Upper Greywater and the Shadow Woods for months at a time.  Only senior, experienced warrior shamans can do this, because they must be able to deal with hordes of Sword People that might attack them.  Given the nature of their questing, they do not seek long-term company (unless the companion is one that they decide, from their forays into the spirit world, that they must stay with) but a Lionman warrior would serve as a stalwart against a band of Sword People warriors, if a traveler (or band) encountered them on the lonely plains.

Located nearby is the village of Aderbak - the site of the Princess of Roses, Location 2 in the Week of Adventure Settings.

Icewall - River Jarl Steading (1)

Icewall is the name of the northern most of the River Jarl steadings.  It is the home of a very powerful clan of Storm King barbarians, the Isvater clan.  The current head of the clan is Kolfinn Haukson.  He is an old warrior, ruling his great clan, and his huscarls, with a firm but fair manner.  He has a daughter, Vigdis Kilfinndottr - who is young, lovely, and given to romantic adventures.  She has a group of friends, all young ladies, who attend her on all manner of adventures.

The steading of Icewall stands at the forefront of a great glacier that is slowly making its way down out of the Destriel mountains.  The Terrapin River (sometimes known locally as the Iceflow) comes down out of the glacier, higher up in the mountains, it flows under the ice sheet.  At the edge of the glacier, where the river comes down out of the mountains, there is a cliff wall made of both ice and mountain rockwall, and it is here that Icewall stands.

Isvater clan Steading - Icewall

There are stone pillars in the Terrapin, at this point, and they are all part of a large protected harbor, which houses the Isvater clan's fleet of dragon ships.

The glacier itself is known as the Ice Father, and is home to all manner of dangerous creatures.  In addition to the usual assortment of snow giants, mountain giants, ice trolls and other creatures of the frozen Destriel mountains, additional other creatures that have been spawned by the shadowy practices of renegade ice wizards (all sworn servants of Helgor, the Black Chieftain, god of the underworld in the Storm King pantheon).

Further north, near the headwaters of the Terrapin River, lies the mysterious and enigmatic Plains of Fire.  This is a valley, nestled down amongst the frozen peaks and glacial flows of the Destriel, that is a curious location - it is a fertile green valley, but with jets of flame erupting from among the hot springs and acidic pools that appear among the otherwise inviting green valley floor.  The Plains of Fire also are the spawning grounds of the great dragons of the north.

Some days, across mountains and ice, to the west of the Plains of Fire stands the singular mountain, the Moonspike.  Atop this curious narrow, but incredibly tall, summit stands the magic monolith known as the Great Crystal.  It is rumored, amongst the Archivists of Parn Tandalorn, that the Crystal was formed from the tears of one of the Three Goddesses, and that it is a peculiarly strong focal point of the magic from the Three within the valley.

Located nearby are the famed Dungeons of Igo Umblar (this is location 1 in the Week of Adventure Locations).

Week of Adventure Locations

Over the next week, I am going to work on a series of location descriptions - of the eight Steadings of the Greywater Jarls (Storm King Barbarians).  These are the strongholds/capitals of the various land holdings of the eight powerful barbarian tribes in the valley around the Greywater and Terrapin rivers.

These are the seats of power for these powerful Storm King barbarian rulers.  In some cases they represent the sort of palisade-surrounded towns that are common in medieval Scandinavia, on Earth.  In others they represent actual castles, made of a variety of materials.

Where appropriate, the surrounding elements of the region (named, but hardly described, in the posting River Jarls of the Greywater (Map)) are also enclosed.

These will be done in numerical order (1-8) as per the numbered key to the map.

River Jarls of the Greywater (Map)

The area of the River Jarls, around the Greywater River, is an interesting place.  Here is a basic map of the region, with some items of interested noted on the map (details coming soon).

1. Icewall
2. Seawyrm
3. Bright Iron Fastness
4. Hearthhome of the White Wolf
5. Rookroost - Daughters of the River Raven
6. Clearwater
7. Mead Hall
8. Northwind Steading
9. Furlingga Tribes (Gnolls)
10. Rockhome Kingdom (Dwarves)
11. Marsh Trolls
12. Orc Clans
13. Great Bear Kingdom

A. Great Crystal
B. Ice Lake
C. Witches Three
D. Stonehouses
E. Plain of Fire
F. The Sword People
G. Tower of Belue Gorm
H. The Great Tree

Storm King Barbarians

Before the three Goddesses were worshiped by the Westroners.  Before even the Westroners came into the valley, the northern peoples (all those north of the Great River) knew and worshiped Bronc, the Storm King.  He is an old deity, who was even known by the Old Ones, but the details of the relationship are not known these days.

The peoples who, since long ago, have remained true to the Storm King culture are divided up into tribes.  There are an unknown number of tribes across the northern frontier of the Destriel Mountains, however there is a concentration of various powerful tribes in and around the lands between the Great Owl Forest and the Shadow Woods.  This includes along the shores of the Greywater River, and also the Terrapin River.  The tribesmen are found throughout the region, however, due to the strong emphasis placed in the culture to go a-viking (raids for booty and adventure).

The tribes in the regions around the Greywater are in some ways rivals of the Westron Baronies, at least how they existed hundreds of years ago, when they were first formed.  There are a variety of the tribes in this area strong enough and numerous enough to have formed (small) cities.  These cities are walled wooden structures, usually with a deep moat around the outer wall.  Many of the Jarls who rule these cities are wealthy enough that they can field sizable fleets of dragon ships along the Greywater and Terrapin rivers.

 Because of the concentration of tribesmen that settle in and around these cities, there is actually a reasonably well defined economy, with all variety of specialty craftsmen.  Because of this, the military technology available to not only the huscarls and fyrdmen, but also to freebooters and adventurers nearly rivals that of the Westron Baronies.  Storm King barbarians disdain, as a whole, armor heavier than chainmail, and also the use of the pike and of the crossbow.  Preferred weapons are the sling, javelin and bow for ranged combat, and the broadsword and battleaxe for hand-to-hand combat.

In addition to the cities of the more powerful tribes, there are numerous smaller villages dotting the region. Many of these are peopled primarily by a single tribe, to also include those that marry in (either by arrangement, or as the result of viking raids).  These tribes are also protected wooden affairs, with wooden buildings, and occasionally (when built along either a main river, or a navigable tributary) with slips for dragon ships, and other craft.  Many of these villages (almost all) are direct fiefdom holdings of the more powerful Jarls, and so owe fyrdmen - feudal warriors - to the Jarl whenever he has a need for them.  When they are NOT enfiefed to the Jarl the fyrdmen either take care of their own small land holdings (animals and crops) or are out on viking raids.

  While animals are used for labor and muscle power (both in transport, and agriculture), there is not a strong horse riding culture among the Storm King barbarians.  Other animals are domesticated, and occasionally ridden, and these include giant rams, wooly rhinos, bison, great bears, and even (occasionally) giant snowy owls from the Great Owl Forest.