Unapproachable East.pdf - The Forgotten Realms

of berserkers meet, blood stains the ground for many miles.
Fortunately, weather and water discourage this behavior, but
when populations grow large in Narfell and resources grow
thin, foolish young Nars are willing to raid Rashemen. Recently
the Witches have encouraged the berserkers to leave defeated
raiders alive, but only after removing an arm. These
grim survivors of pointless Nar raids are sent home to remind
their fellows of the consequences of attacking Rashemen.
The most aggressive of these horse-raiders are the Ragnor
tribe, a powerful band of barbarians who live on the steppes
north of the Firward Mountains. The Ragnor tribe is led by
a vicious killer called Ghur-Tha the Cleaver (CE male human
Bbn4/Clr9 of Orcus) who delights in capturing enemies alive
and sacrificing them to his demonic patron.
RED WIZARDS OF THAY
The primary enemies of modern Rashemen are the Red Wizards
of Thay and their servants, slaves, and armies. Even
though the common people of Thay have no reason to hate the
Rashemi, Thay’s history of war with Rashemen and the constant
exhortations of the Red Wizards have convinced the lower
classes that the Rashemi are a horrible and debased people.
Fortunately for Rashemen, the Red Wizards have been incompetent
in execution of their goals of conquest, wasting resources
fighting one another instead of focusing on their
opponents. They might take the field with an army of orc
troops and a new magical crossbreed that loves to eat orcs, or
send a squadron of griffonriders to aid a gnoll tribe that hates
all flying creatures. They give imprecise orders to mindless
undead, so that thousands of troops walk aimlessly into the
forest or march themselves into a lake. The Red Wizards are
best when dealing with opponents directly—using spells and
magic items they wield themselves—but they avoid such tactics,
which put them directly in harm’s way.
Now that the Thayans are focusing on trade rather than
military conquest, it will be interesting to see what happens
to their long-term relationship with Rashemen. The Rashemi
aren’t going to forget five hundred years of conquest attempts
overnight, and the Red Wizards aren’t going to forget their
defeats at the hands of the hathrans, nor the phenomenal
magic hoards of the Old Ones. Even if the Thayans succeed
at spreading their trade enclaves throughout the nearby lands,
the Rashemi will be a tough sell.
Cities and Sites
Most Rashemi live outside of large settlements, preferring
separated homesteads surrounded by small tracts of farmland
or pasture. Their homes are usually built to blend in with the
countryside. Some are stone, covered with earth and grass;
others are built against small hillside caves; and a few are
almost completely buried, looking like nothing more than a
low knoll. Rashemi cities are small and compact, with buildings
made of dark wood and stone and topped with sod and
RASHEMEN
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grass. The thick walls keep out the cold weather and are
treated to resist burning (always a danger when a constant fire
is needed for much of the year). Rural Rashemi look down on
the city dwellers, considering them soft, but in truth the residents
of Rashemen’s cities live much the same as the country
folk, although with shorter walks to their neighbors.
Citadel Rashemar (VILLAGE)
This great fortress once held a garrison of over 2,000 Rashemi
troops, ready to repel bandits and protect traders moving
within the country. When the Tuigan Horde invaded in 1359
DR, they left 5,000 troops behind to besiege the fortress. With
the hathrans distracted by the main Tuigan force, the defenders
of the citadel were left unsupported. Ballads are still
sung by Rashemi bards about the valor and bravery of the
doomed soldiers, who held out for three months against superior
numbers. When the Tuigans finally took the fortress, they
mercilessly slaughtered all the defenders and the other locals
who had taken shelter within. The Tuigans then pulled down
its mighty walls with teams of strong horses, leaving little
more than piles of shattered stone. Although the Tuigans were
defeated soon thereafter, Citadel Rashemar was not rebuilt.
The fallen citadel is now the haunt of foul creatures. Goblins
lair in the upper levels as well as in the remnants of the
village that surrounded the fort. Monstrous spiders crawl over
the ruins and are sometimes used as steeds by the goblins. The
lower levels are the lair of Chaul (NE female annis hag sorcerer
6/durthan 7), a powerful spellcaster and an enemy of the
hathrans, having slain two of them who sought to expel her.
Chaul is guarded by eight barbarian ogres and by goblins apt
at sorcery, and she is grooming her spellcasting followers for
the ability to use place magic. Her closest ally is Durakh Haan
(NE female half-orc Clr9 of Luthic), a woman of unknown
heritage but a bitter disposition. In combat, Chaul’s ogres are
enhanced by Durakh’s magic, each leading a wing of twenty
goblins trained in dealing with berserkers (using hit-and-run
tactics to deplete their rage). Chaul and Durakh stay out of
sight of their enemies, with Durakh casting raise dead to replenish
any fallen allies and animate dead on fallen foes. The
undead guard inner portions of the ruins, while the cleric’s
power to restore the dead to life has filled the goblins with unshakeable
faith in themselves and their leaders.
Citadel Rashemar was originally a ring-shaped hilltop
fortress enclosing an area almost 300 yards across within its
outer walls, with towers enspelled against long-range magic
like that used by the Red Wizards. Its most intact part is the
inner keep that caps the shaft leading to the subterranean
levels. The former walls have been rearranged into defensive
lines surrounding the central keep, and the scattered stones
have been re-formed into crude, one-story towers able to conceal
an ogre. Covered passages run from the keep to each
tower, allowing troops to move to and from these outer positions
without being exposed to ranged attacks. The houses in
the remains of the outlying village are little more than empty
shells, but the goblins have dug shallow tunnels beneath, which
they use as their homes. Anyone approaching is noticed long