Unapproachable East.pdf - The Forgotten Realms

THE VREMYONNI
While the wychlaran serve Rashemen as judges, rulers, priests,
and warriors, men with spellcasting ability are segregated
from their kin as vremyonni, or “Old Ones.” Divine spellcasters
such as clerics or druids are not required to set themselves
apart in this way, but Rashemi expect wychlaran to
placate the spirits and intercede with the gods, so male clerics
or druids do not have a role in society. Most become hermits
or eventually join a berserker lodge (after multiclassing
as barbarians) and become advisors to these elite brotherhoods.
Men who happen to be arcane spellcasters have no such
option. They must secret themselves among the hidden villages
and cavern strongholds of the vremyonni, or they must
leave Rashemen. To refuse this command is death. Most Old
Ones accept this as the way of things and do not begrudge
their seclusion. In their hidden refuges, they become expert
weaponsmiths and item-crafters, creating potent magic weapons
for the berserkers and wychlaran in defense of the land.
On very rare occasions, when Rashemen faces the direst
threats, vremyonni take the field and march to war alongside
the wychlaran. Masked like their hathran sisters, each binds
himself to a hathran with a short length of silken cord, and
the paired spellcasters work as deadly teams.
Adventurers
True adventurers—people who wander about solving problems
and investigating strange old ruins—are rare in Rashemen, for
most get such urges out of their system in the dajemma. Most
adventurers within Rashemen are nobles (usually men and
women born of powerful and influential berserkers) who undertake
dangerous quests to prove their fitness and courage.
Adventurers from other lands are viewed with as much suspicion
as any foreigner unless traveling with a hathran or respected
berserker. Such folk are uncommon, although they are
sometimes seen along the Golden Way, acting as caravan
guards or heading to explore remote dungeons. Adventurers
are most common in the North Country, where the locals are
happy to point strangers toward the nearest ruin just to get
rid of them.
Most settlements in Rashemen have only one small establishment
for dealing with foreign adventurers (locals can usually
stay with family or at a berserker lodge-house). Mulptan
and Shevel are the exceptions, having become used to caravan
traffic and strange faces. Visiting adventurers are often forced
to sleep outside, as no right-minded Rashemi would even lend
a barn to someone who may be a spy for the Red Wizards.
Many adventurers freeze to death in the colder months,
unused to such a reception and unprepared for the extreme
temperature.
All strangers are encouraged to move along after a couple
of days, and foreign spellcasters are advised to use as little
magic as possible within Rashemen’s borders for fear of upsetting
the locals, spirits, and Witches.
RASHEMEN
140
Politics and Power
Rashemen has had the same form of government for over
1,400 years. Not long after the empires of Narfell and Raumathar
collapsed, the tribes of the Rashemi were united with
the help of a mysterious band of women spellcasters, the
wychlaran. The women swore to protect Rashemen, its people,
and its native spirits until the end of the world. In exchange,
they asked only for the power to choose Rashemen’s kings and
war leaders. The Rashemi, having seen how effectively the
wychlaran battled against the Nars and Raumathari, gratefully
agreed, and the first Iron Lord was selected sometime
around seventy-five years before the start of the Dalereckoning
calendar.
History of Rashemen
Rashemen’s history is a long series of invasions by hostile
neighbors, followed by the invaders’ defeat by berserker fury
and hathran magic. These enemies include old Narfell and
Raumathar, Mulhorand (seeking to expand its holdings from
its northernmost territory), the Tuigan Horde, and Thay,
which is responsible for at least twenty major invasion attempts
in the past 450 years. Because Rashemen is isolated and
communicates little with the outside world, the details of most
of these attacks are not well known, but the following events
have become common knowledge.
–5000 First human tribesfolk settle in Rashemen.
–1967 First Mulhorand-Unther war. Rashemi, Raumviran,
Sossrim, and Nar tribesfolk are employed as mercenaries
by both sides.
–1076 The Orcgate opens on the plateau of Thay. Mulhorand
and Unther ally against the threat. Rashemen is
overrun by orcs.
–1069 The Orcgate is destroyed; many orcs flee into the Sunrise
Mountains.
–970 The Nentyarch of Tharos builds his capital at Dun-
Tharos and forges the Crown of Narfell. He begins a
campaign to conquer the various petty Nar realms
and unite them beneath his rule.
–946 The Nentyarch’s armies destroy Shandaular, capital of
Ashanath; all Nar kingdoms are united.
–900 The Raumvirans establish the realm of Raumathar,
with its capital at Winterkeep.
–160 Year of the Stone Giant: Narfell and Raumathar destroy
each other with terrible magic. Rashemen is ravaged
by demons and destructive spells.
–148 Year of the Black Marble: Rashemen falls under the
rule of the demon lord Eltab.
–108 Year of the Wand: A secretive order of Witches surfaces
in Rashemen. Of Raumviran ancestry, they are
sworn to preserve the lore and learning of the Empire
of Raumathar.