Lords of the Cruth Lowlands - Vaults of Pandius

Atlas of the Lowlands
dead companions, but not Uidar himself,
leading to the legend of his mysterious
disappearance.
Barrow of the Thyatian Tribune
A Thyatian officer was buried here after
dying in a skirmish against Achelos
holdouts in 900 AC. The barrow, however,
is much older, dating back to the age
when the Giants ruled this area. The
Thyatians merely re-used it as a practical
solution for burying the dead officer.
Abandoned Thyatian Fort
This wooden fort was part of the early
attempts by Thyatian governors of
Traladara to colonize the Cruth Lowlands.
Such attempts were soon suspended, as
the Thyatian government preferred leaving
the Cruth Lowlands to the Orcs, and
paying the goblinoids to harass their
enemies in the Five Shires, rather than
having to share a border with the
troublesome Hin.
The fort itself is a small affair, and mostly
ruined, but resourceful characters willing
to make themselves into a local power
could try and hold it against the nearby
Orcish tribes. The fort could otherwise be
used as a temporary base by bandits, such
as the Achelos Outlaws, or small monster
bands.
Three Axes Ford
Mentioned in the legend of Moira the
Pure 5 , the Three Axes Ford is the site of
the battle that saw the end of that
Traladaran saint at the hands of Hill Giants
(now residing in the Steading). Kurest
Hurgon is the dwarven mine that Moira
and her warriors were attempting to reach
when they were ambushed by the Hill
Giants.
Grisbaldos’ Tomb and the
Slough of Despair 6
Grisbaldos was a Thyatian legionnaire in
Tribune Rosentos' unit during the Thyatian
occupation. Rosentos organized an
expedition to the Blight Swamp, but
perished there with most of his soldiers.
Grisbaldos, a Centurion, was among the
first to die, even before the troop entered
the swamp itself. He was buried under a
mound of stones, which stands to this day
as a landmark in the area. His ghost
haunts the area, seeking revenge for his
death.
The Slough of Despair is a magical effect
that saps the will, especially in Lawful
aligned beings. It is an effect of Trinkla's
use of the Black Opal Eye --- the Black
Seer’s experiments with the powers of the
Eye unbalanced the forces of magic in the
area, and Trinkla relocated farther into the
Blight Swamp.
Tomb of Trinkla the Black Seer
Trinkla was an early Traladaran sorceress.
She stole the Black Opal Eye from its
rightful bearer, the Seer of the Lake of
Lost Dreams, and fled to the western
swamps, starting a career of
experimentation into the darkest sides of
arcane Divination, Summoning and
Necromancy. Her experiments disrupted
heavily the ecosystem of the swamp, filling
it with dark predators such as the
serpentweed, as well as dark magic points
such as the Slough of Despair. The swamp
thus gained its moniker of “Blight Swamp”,
and Trinkla became the “Black Seer”.
Refusing death, Trinkla had a great
mausoleum dug into an hill by slave labor
and magic, protected it with traps and
magical guardians, and secluded herself
therein with a great store of magic items,
texts, and artifacts (including the Black
Opal Eye), studying the way to become a
Lich. Most people assumed she had died
6 Both Grisbaldos’ Tomb and the Slough of
5 Moira the Pure and Three Axes Ford are
originally found in the “DM’s Survival Kit”.
Despair are originally found in “The
Treasure of the Hideous One”.
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