A History of the Forest Lands

By Vallis Valanthar

1. Introduction to the Forest Land

In the "Introduction to the Forest Lands" section of A History of the Forest Lands & Cormyr, readers are introduced to the ancient and mystical realms predating human settlements. The chapter offers an overview of key geographic features: the towering King's Forest, the haunting Hullack Forest, and the perilous Stonelands. To the west, the rugged Stormhorn Mountains rise majestically, while the teeming swamps and the vast Dragonmere Sea cradle secrets long forgotten.

1. The Era of the Primordials

In Chapter 2, "The Era of the Primordials," readers delve into the time when titanic beings shaped the very fabric of the land. This chapter recounts the creation of the world's landscapes through the immense power and conflicts of the Primordials. Vast mountains, deep oceans, and sprawling forests emerged from their epic battles, setting the stage for all that followed. A notable feature, the Plungepool near Espar, leads to the Underdark, a result of a monumental disagreement between earth and water elementals. This cataclysmic event also weakened the link to the Feywild, further altering the land's magical connections. This era of colossal forces and cataclysmic events laid the foundation for the realms of both mortals and fae.

1. The Dawn of the Fey

This chapter details how the Feywild crossed into these lands, leading to the establishment of faerie courts. Oberon, known as the Green Lord, and Maeve, the Queen of Thorns, shaped the earth and wilds, creating natural wonders. The Seelie and Unseelie Courts arose, governing the balance of light and dark within the Feywild. The intricate relationships and politics of these courts set the stage for countless legends and the enduring influence of the Fey in the world.

1. The Rise of the Eladrin

This chapter highlights the establishment of grand cities like Myth Drannor, where the Eladrin thrived. It explores their achievements in arcane arts, intricate architecture, and sophisticated society. 

1. The Reign of Dragons

In Chapter 5, "The Reign of Dragons," readers explore an era where powerful dragon lords, like the ancient black dragon Thauglorimorgorus, ruled vast territories. As of −400 DR, Thauglorimorgorus, whose ebony scales had faded to violet with age, embarked on a tour of his realm after a slight from his great-grandson. His journey north led him to encounter Iliphar Nelnueve, and in −205 DR, Thauglorimorgorus lost a Feint of Honor to Iliphar, resulting in the elves claiming the forests while dragons kept the marshes and mountains.

1. The Fall of Myth Drannor

In Chapter 6, "The Fall of Myth Drannor," looks into the rise and tragic fall of the legendary elven city. Myth Drannor, once a beacon of elven culture, magic, and unity, reached its zenith under the leadership of the Coronal Eltargrim. It was a place where elves, dwarves, humans, and other races coexisted and thrived. However, the city's downfall began with the invasion of the Army of Darkness aided by a lich in 714 DR, consisting of demons, devils, and other dark entities. Despite a valiant defense, the city succumbed to relentless assaults, leading to its eventual ruin. The fall of Myth Drannor had profound consequences for the region, leaving behind ruins filled with powerful artifacts and lingering magical energies, and causing a significant power shift in the Forest Lands and beyond. This event marked the end of an era and the beginning of a period of turmoil and reclamation efforts by those seeking to restore the once-great city.

1. The Tale of the Queen of Thorns

This chapter narrates the rise of the Queen, an ancient and powerful faerie ruler of the Unseelie Court, who was known for her cunning and cruelty. She had two daughters, Titania and Mab, whom she pitted against each other to forge a successor. Titania, with her pure and kind nature, eventually caught the attention of Oberon, the ruler of the Seelie Court. Oberon fell deeply in love with Titania and whisked her away to his gleaming realm, sparking a cataclysmic war between the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. This conflict reached its peak when Titania and Oberon, along with Mab who ultimately chose to side with them, confronted the Queen of Thorns. In a dramatic showdown, they managed to trap the Queen sealed by powerful magic. The author, through meticulous studies, has located possible locations of these seals, identified by concentrations of fey magic that are believed to be the very protections keeping the Queen of Thorns imprisoned.

1. The Seven Harbingers

In this chapter, we delve into the intricate details of the Queen's Harbingers, powerful beings whose seals are scattered across Cormyr. The author, having tracked concentrated fey magic, has identified spikes in seven locations, each corresponding to one of these harbingers. Herein, we provide a detailed profile of each harbinger, the nature of their seals, and the locations where these seals can be found.

Harbinger Profiles and Seal Locations

1. Lair of Madness

• Location: West Stormhorns, North of Minroe, Deep Underground
• Description: The seal of Madness is hidden deep within the West Stormhorns. The cryptic babblings of a madman spoke of his brother, deep underground, who complained of a castle that fell on his head. This clue likely refers to the disappearance of Melkerech's flying citadel, which crashed near this seal. The lair is a place of disjointed reality, where the boundaries of sanity blur, and those who enter must steel their minds against the whispers of madness.

2. Lair of Destruction

• Location: Under Minroe, Melrest Region
• Description: Underneath Minroe lies the seal of Destruction, incorporated into Melkerech's underground structure. His writings suggest that this chamber, known as the Chamber of the Damned, contained a seal of feywild origin that radiated destructive power. At sunrise, a being would stalk the circle, slamming its fists into it for the first hour of the morning. This lair is a place of ruin, where the air hums with violent energy and the ground bears scars of ancient battles.

3. Lair of Pestilence

• Location: Underneath Arabel, Potentially Sewers
• Description: Far to the north, the seal of Pestilence lies in the sewers beneath this great city.  Pestilence slept soundly over his crystalline prison, serving as a macabre decoration. This lair exudes a noxious miasma, where the air is thick with disease and decay, and even the strongest constitutions falter.

4. Lair of Entropy

• Location: The College of War Wizards, Suzail
• Description: Sensing powerful emanations of magic, the War Wizards of Suzail built their college above this seal. In the cellars, they discovered a room of utter tranquility and peace. Initially used for meditation, the room soon revealed its true nature when those inside felt compelled to stop breathing, leading to several injuries and a death. This lair embodies the slow, inexorable decay of all things, where time itself seems to unravel.

5. Lair of Fury

• Location: Warm Waterfall, North Cormyr
• Description: In a pleasant grove called the Warm Waterfall, the seal of Fury is hidden. The waterfall, warming as it tumbles into the Starwater River, is believed to be infused with feywild power. Behind the waterfall lies the lair, a place of intense heat and volcanic activity, where the air crackles with the energy of unleashed rage and the ground trembles with the fury contained within.

6. Lair of Famine

• Location: Infested Hills, East of Cormyr
• Description: In the infested hills to the east of Cormyr stands a single black spire above another feywild energy source. Here, nothing grows, and food tastes as ash, marking it as the lair of Famine. This barren landscape is a place of desolation and want, where the very land is cursed to deny sustenance to all who enter.

7. Lair of Despair

• Location: Below the Plungepool, Sschindylryn
• Description: The deepest of the lairs, Despair lies below the Plungepool in the Middle Dark. Sschindylryn (Shin-dil-rin), the drow city, was built around this seal. This lair is a place of shadows and hopelessness, where trust is a commodity, and the air is thick with a palpable sense of dread. The very stones seem to whisper of lost hope and broken dreams.

The Consequences of Broken Seals

The Harbingers, driven by their singular purposes, would spread chaos and destruction, each in their own way, preparing the land for the Queen's return.

Madness would drive entire communities into insanity, turning allies against each other in a frenzy of confusion and terror. Madness has no form and is exceedingly arrogant. However, the author notes that it cannot exist without a host; if there is no available host, it would perish.

Destruction would lay waste to cities and towns, leaving nothing but ruins in its wake, as it seeks to obliterate all forms of structure and civilization. It is exceptionally powerful but cannot bear the magic of healing.

Pestilence would spread diseases and plagues, decimating populations and leaving survivors weak and vulnerable.

Entropy would accelerate the decay of all things, specifically focusing on magic. A shapeshifter, it would murder and take the place of someone of high rank, and work politically to cause chaos in the realm.  Entropy cannot be harmed by non-magical weapons, however, it was known to also nullify all magic nearby making it near invulnerable.

Fury would incite wars and battles, igniting the rage in hearts of men and beasts alike, leading to endless conflict and bloodshed. The touch of love and affection is more than it can bear.

Famine would curse the land, causing food to rot and water to dry up, driving the inhabitants to starvation and desperation. It abhors water and plant life.

Despair would seep into the hearts and minds of all, extinguishing hope and driving the living into a state of perpetual sorrow and defeat. Despair thrives on isolation and emotional pain. Despair is an infiltrator, to disrupt those who oppose her awakening.

Once their work of devastation is complete, the Harbingers would travel to the Queen's resting place, presenting their achievements in a dark ceremony. In her dreams, the Queen would be roused by the visions of their deeds, and she would imbue herself with their accumulated power. Awakened and empowered, the Queen of Thorns would rise to reclaim her throne, bringing a new era of darkness and dominion over the realms.

1. The Feywild Retreat

The Feywild Retreat marks the gradual withdrawal of fey beings from the mortal plane to the Feywild. Following the defeat of the Queen of Thorns, the event was bittersweet. Mab, taking the mantle of Queen of the Unseelie Court, initiated the retreat. Titania, grieving the loss of her mother, returned to the Feywild with Oberon. As the Weave's magic waned, fey creatures left, leading to the Pact of Leaves and the Great Migration. This exodus disrupted local magic, caused political shifts, and resulted in cultural losses.  Some of the fey did remain, but took on elven appearances, notably the hag Vallesta & Vymora Shadowvine, banished from the unseelie court, loyal to Maeve, Mab’s mother remained and formed a pact with an unknown fiend. The closing of Fey Gates and the rise of Feywild Sanctuaries reshaped interactions between realms. This retreat set the stage for the potential resurgence of ancient powers and marked a profound change in the balance of magic in Cormyr and beyond.

1. The Rise of Humanity

As the fey retreated, humans made peace with the elves and began to flourish in Cormyr, establishing communities along rivers and fertile lands. Ondeth Obarskyr, a visionary leader, unified these scattered groups by founding the city of Suzail around 26 DR. Strategically located along the coast, Suzail quickly became a hub of trade and culture, marking the beginning of Cormyr's rise as a powerful human kingdom.

1. The Kingdom of Cormyr

The Kingdom of Cormyr was founded under Ondeth Obarskyr, with his son Faerlthann becoming the first king. Suzail, the capital, grew into a thriving hub of trade and culture. Key events include the construction of the Great Hall of Suzail and a treaty with the elves that ensured peace and cooperation, promoting stability and mutual prosperity.

1. Fall of the Lich Lords

In the year 1370, a young mage named Melkerech left his home in Tilverton, Cormyr, driven by a dream to become a renowned wizard. He promised his childhood sweetheart he would return, fully trained and celebrated among the war wizards in Suzail. He succeeded in earning recognition but soon became disillusioned, feeling constrained by the limitations imposed by the mages there. Forbidden from delving into necromancy and chronomancy, he felt like a mere tool of the school.

Undeterred, Melkerech sought out forbidden texts under the cover of night, discovering fragments of the lost art of chronomancy. His secret studies led him to a mysterious whisper emanating from the cellar of the college, where he found a giant stone seal marked with the image of a black and white tree. Night after night, he meditated there, absorbing the whispered secrets and learning rudimentary time spells.

His clandestine activities came to an abrupt end when he used a time spell in class, prompting the archmage to recognize and immediately expel him. Shunned and disgraced, Melkerech returned home only to be ostracized further, his sweetheart forbidden from seeing him. In a rage, he struck down her father and fled into the wild.

There he pursued lost texts regarding chronomancy and found a race that utilized it routinely—but were found only in another plane of existence: the Modron. Utilizing planewalking magic, he captured and interrogated a Modron but found that they had no magic to share. Rather, their relationship to time was an innate feature of their plane of existence. However, he grew fond of the Modron, and it became a companion. Separated from the commands of its elder, Primus, it developed its own personality.

In 1372, tragedy struck Tilverton, which was destroyed by the Shadovar, transforming it into Tilverton Scar. Melkerech arrived too late, witnessing his beloved perish. Desperate to resurrect her through necromancy, he was thwarted and driven away by the Shadovar. Once more, the whispers guided him, leading him to a hidden grove in the King's Forest, where he encountered a beautiful woman. She offered him the secrets of chronomancy in exchange for his help in breaking one of the seven seals hidden across Cormyr—seals that bound the Queen of Thorns. These spells promised him the power to reverse time and save his love.

Melkerech, now a devoted student of this dark art, found the path to ultimate chronomancy fraught with darker and darker rituals. He realized that it would take centuries to amass the power needed to change history. Corrupted by his bond with the Queen of Thorns, he sought a way to extend his life indefinitely. Rationalizing his actions as pure, he captured criminals, imprisoning them underground and using their souls to transform himself into a lich, securing the time he needed to master chronomancy and amass the power needed to change history. His first attempt was a failure, sending him to the year DR 1, so in the past he continued to amass power and knowledge, knowledge more accessible with the fall of Netherese magic, now slightly less ancient history.

Over centuries, Melkerech's studies led him to several critical points in history where he attempted to change the course of events, only to find that his actions seemed eerily familiar, as if he had read about them in his studies of the future.

In 6 DR, Ondeth moved from Impiltur with his family to the future site of Suzail. Melkerech, now in the past, sought to manipulate these early settlers. He found Suzara, Ondeth's wife who had grown dissatisfied with the settlement, and together they plotted against Ondeth. Their scheme ended tragically when Suzara died and was cursed to become the first Ghazneth, her body buried under a fir tree. Melkerech then tried to manipulate the elves to view the human settlers as a threat. Despite his efforts, history unfolded as it always had: Minda Bleth survived an attack because she was with Ondeth, and later, Ondeth refused a crown "born out of a massacre," leading to Faerlthann's eventual rise as the first king of Cormyr.

Each attempt to alter history ended in failure, not because of external resistance, but because the events always seemed to revert to their original course. Melkerech saw that his actions had always been a part of the historical record. His manipulations, his interventions—all had already been written in the annals of history. He had not changed the past; he had fulfilled it.

This final blow came to pass that any attempt to rewrite the past was futile because history had already accounted for such alterations. His desperate attempts to save his lost love, the atrocities he committed, and his transformation into a lich—all had been part of an unchangeable timeline.

This revelation shattered Melkerech. He had sacrificed his humanity, committed countless atrocities, and prolonged his existence for a cause that was ultimately futile. The Queen of Thorns had used him to try to free herself, with no intention of fulfilling her promises. Realising he had been manipulated, Melkerech embraced his now wholly evil nature, continuing his pursuit of knowledge in a bid to break the immutable wall of history.

But deep down, he knew the truth: the past was immutable, and his quest had been a tragic deception. Melkerech's centuries-long journey ended in the same despair that had driven him from the beginning, his only solace the cold embrace of power and the fleeting hope that, somehow, he might still find a way to alter the unalterable.

1. The Goblinkin Invasions

The Goblinkin Invasions were marked by major conflicts between the kingdom of Cormyr and goblinkin forces. These invasions led to the burning of Arabel and numerous subsequent battles, which tested the resilience and unity of Cormyr's defenders. The invasions caused widespread destruction and upheaval, shaping the kingdom's military strategies and fortifications.

1. Artifacts and Relics

This chapter explores significant magical items and their histories, including the legendary Ring of Winter and other notable artifacts. Each item holds immense power and a storied past, playing crucial roles in the events and legends of Cormyr.

This chapter explores significant magical items and their histories, specifically those found in or connected to Cormyr and Sschindylryn, and offers some educated guesses about their current locations.

The Amulet of the Planes Owned by the lich Adzarek, it is unknown if the adventurers who killed him and later Melkerech obtained this from his lair. It could still be there in the cursed halls of Barrenstone, awaiting discovery by daring explorers.

The Orb of Dragonkind Developed by the fae in response to the rise of dragon lords, this artifact was claimed by the ancient dragon Thauglor. It is likely still hidden within his lost lair, a treasure hoard that remains shrouded in mystery and guarded by powerful magic.

The Crown of Cormyr A symbol of the monarchy, the Crown of Cormyr is enchanted to protect the ruling Obarskyr family. It resides within the royal vaults in Suzail, safeguarded by layers of magical and physical protections, ensuring its safety and continuity of the royal line.

Mac-Fuirmidh Bagpipes These legendary bagpipes, known to sow discord and confusion among the bardic enemies of Mac-Fuirmidh, were confiscated by the War Wizards after causing a major incident at court. They are likely stored in the College of War Wizards in Suzail, where they remain under careful guard and study.

Sphere of Stasis An orb capable of casting Time Stop and maintaining it indefinitely, with the holder immune to its effects. Last in the possession of Melkerech in his flying citadel, it was lost when the citadel crashed under the mountains near Minroe. Its exact location remains unknown, buried deep beneath the earth.

Thornbrand A bastard sword wielded one-handed by the Queen of Thorns, this fae weapon was last known to be in the possession of Melkerech, who collected rare and powerful artifacts. It is believed to be hidden deep in the underground catacombs beneath Minroe, protected by traps and wards set by the lich.

Ring of Winter
This ancient and powerful artifact, capable of controlling cold and ice, was last known to be in the possession of the frost giant Jarl Grugnur. Rumors suggest it might have been taken from him and hidden away in a secret vault within the Storm Horns, or possibly transported to an unknown location by powerful entities aware of its potential for immense destruction.

Verdant Embrace
The Verdant Embrace, a powerful amulet crafted by the legendary druid Elowen of the Hullack Forest in Cormyr to defend the ancient woods from a devastating blight caused by the necromancer Aulmpiter. Infused with the essence of nature and the Heart of the Forest gemstone, it enhanced a druid’s Wildshape abilities and resilience. Betrayed by a corrupted druid, Elowen fell in battle, and the amulet was lost for centuries, passing through many hands before being discovered by the Chronolich Melkerech. Intrigued by its unique powers and history, Melkerech added the amulet to his vast collection of magical artifacts, preserving its legacy in the depths of his lair.



Sentinel’s Embrace
Sentinel's Resolve, a legendary artifact, was forged by the god Helm himself, crafted from Everbright, a rare and luminous metal imbued with divine energy. Helm created this powerful mace to aid his most devout followers in their eternal vigil against the forces of darkness. Its primary purpose was to reveal hidden dangers, dispel magical darkness, and banish malevolent entities, ensuring that Helm's guardians could protect the innocent and uphold justice.

Sentinel's Resolve is hidden within the labyrinthine ruins of Barrenstone, the home of the lich Adzerak. The complex is a maze of corridors, hidden rooms, and shifting walls, designed to mislead intruders. The chamber containing the mace is concealed by powerful wards and illusions, making it appear as an ordinary room. Entry is guarded by arcane locks and traps that require both magical and mundane skills to bypass. A guardian construct, created by Adzerak, tests the worthiness of those who seek the mace, ensuring only the pure of heart can claim it.

Decoy artifacts and a faint divine whisper further protect the true location, guiding only those attuned to Helm's will. Additionally, Sentinel's Resolve has a unique power to prevent nullify effects within a 100-foot radius, safeguarding its wielder and allies from being stripped of their magical abilities. This divine protection, coupled with the mace's other abilities, makes it an invaluable tool for those who stand against the forces of darkness.

Keychain of Domestic Propriety

The Keychain of Domestic Propriety is a meticulously crafted magical device, typically fashioned from silver, gold, or electrum. It consists of six charms, each imbued with unique domestic magic. The keychain can be worn as a standard keychain or as a charm bracelet, a form favored by maids. This device was inspired by a Cormyrean mage during a visit to Calimshan and has become a treasured item within the Thistle family estate in Suzail.

Additionally, throughout the land, high-level war wizards possess the War Wizard Cloak, a powerful garment offering warmth, infravision, feather fall, ironguard, and protection from normal missiles, along with once-daily use of the Sending and Dimension Door spells. This cloak is a symbol of their rank and is crucial for their combat and survival, often seen within the College of War Wizards in Suzail.