Havenwale

Havenwale was a small vale that a group of fey showed to a sub-group of the KNOCKBEARD CLAN of Gnome.  It is located in the south central portion of the Barren Woods.  This small vale became their home, and there they mined diamonds.  
Locally the vale's location was not widely known and it is difficult to find.  In Ludensheim and Botkinburg it became known as Diamond Dale.  
Other miners moved into the area founding the villages of GIPSHEIM and DREDDSTUN.  There mining was never able to find more than the occasional diamond and so these towns dwindled down and are now the home of bandits, vagrants, and other miscreants along with a small number of families that try to farm and mine some.
While no one was able to establish the location of the vale, a group of UNGERN led by a DRIDER were able to conquer the vale, and no one goes there any longer lest they wind up enslaved in the mines.

Geography

The once lush meadows and pleasant groves of trees have been turned into a tangle of brambles and reduced to barely living stumps.  The waters now run muddy and foul, while the clean and orderly burrows of the gnomes have become rancid mazes holding foul beings.

Natural Resources

Diamonds and some small gold deposits.

History

In this hidden dale a large family of gnomes settled. Long friends of the fey, these gnomes were guided there and offered safety. The dale they settled in was nestled at the foot of a large hill, and their new home they named Havenwale for it was a place of safety to them. The fey called it SYVANWALE, which is, in the speech of man, Sparkling Hill. They called it thus, for all the quartz crystals that were found in the area and, in this particular spot, the diamonds. For many a long year the gnomes lived there in safety, having little contact with the world at large. The clan grew and prospered though never so much as to expand beyond the dale. Only with the passing of the evil lord in AUFSTRAG and the return of the long summers did the gnomes begin venturing forth again into the wide world.
They quickly established commercial ties with several nearby communities of men. Ludensheim was the nearest large town and it was here that the gnomes began trading diamonds for goods and wares they had long grown accustomed to living without. The folk of Ludensheim coined the name DIAMOND DALE for the gnome community, and it soon stuck, while the name Havenwale was used almost only by the gnomes. The new name proved a propitious event.
In the long years after the passing of the WINTER'S DARK the gnomes relaxed and became less watchful. They did not see that the Horned One’s passing only diminished the power of those in far off Aufstrag, but not the evil that resided in the hearts of man and the other nefarious creatures of the Barren Woods.
Soon miners and diggers of all sorts came to the Barren Wood in search of diamonds and similar wealth. Several mining communities were established. These were often peopled by greedy types, eager to make a quick fortune and move on. The gnomes hid their homes and trafficked less with the folk of Ludensheim. The mining towns never prospered and shortly became the abodes of bandits, brigands, outlaws and the general flotsam of society.
In more recent days the gnomes watched with growing concern when the Lords of Ludensheim fought amongst themselves and the rightful lords were turned out. They sought only the protection of the Vale and the magic of the fey to keep them safe. This proved a disastrous move for long before the RED CAPS began their intrusions into the area. Then came the forces of the WITCH QUEEN to seize the vale and the gnomes of Diamond Dale fell to ruin.
The Witch Queen had come from the ruin of Aufstrag seeking to cast her power upon the people of the Barren Wood. Hearing rumors of limitless wealth of the Diamond Dale, she thought to gird herself for war with the coin of gnomes. Her servants soon invested the mining towns and, through means magical and foul, took and destroyed the location of Havenwale. She sent her loyal cohorts into that dale and they quickly overcame the gnomes. Few survived and those that did were either ensorceled and enslaved or fled deeper into the Barren Woods or abroad.
For several decades it has been such. The Witch Queen’s servants have fortified Havenwale and dug many a pit in search of diamonds and other precious minerals. All to little or no avail as they have neither the inclination nor skill to mine the diamonds with any efficiency and have delivered very little to the Witch Queen. The once beautiful gnome village and dens became a warren of viperous fiends and brigands. The foul debris of these folks turned it all to brackish rock and a heap of ruin, so that in time it came to be called The Slag Heap.

Alternative Name(s)

Diamond Dale

Type

Vale

Location under

Barren Woods

Owner/Ruler

Seroneous

Contested By

• Gnomes of Havenwale