Unapproachable East.pdf - The Forgotten Realms

Illustration by Vince Locke
that have traditionally been at war, many conflicts have
played out here, the muck running crimson with the blood of
armies. The most effective troops in this miserable land are
Thay’s undead hordes. However, the dampness causes zombies
to rot at an accelerated pace, and undead foot soldiers fare no
better than the living when traversing the muck.
The Umber Marshes are also home to dangerous creatures,
including monstrous vermin, poisonous snakes, hydras, shambling
mounds, and trolls. Yet those threats seem minor compared
to the clouds of biting insects that follow every
red-blooded creature passing through the place. These pests
are sources of disease as well as discomfort, and more than
one noble warrior has met an ignoble end by such insignificant
creatures.
Recently, the shambling mounds of the Umber Marshes
have either found a leader or developed some sort of collective
intelligence. At first, they lined up about a mile from the
marshes’ southern border, gazing out toward the River
Lapendrar beyond. Now they have formed a second line looking
up and out at the Watchwall, and some have been spotted
as far west as Glarondar. Some of Thay’s zulkirs, including
Szass Tam, believe the shambling mounds are the reconstituted
remains of thousands of undead soldiers lost in the
marshes, and they hope to advantage of this. If they can magically
wrest control of these creatures, they can turn what was
once a natural barrier into a terrible weapon against the
people of Aglarond.
AGLAROND
Umber Marshes
99
The truth is so far unsuspected by both Aglarond and Thay.
A trio of undead druids known as the Umber Council have
been creating and directing the plant monsters for months.
The druids have set up a vast underground lair in the heart
of the marshes, forming vines and plants to prop up the
rooms and tunnels they forced open in the muck. The leader
of the Umber Council is Ysvel the Black (NE female lich
Drd18) who was driven mad by an ancient artifact—a rusted
iron rod known as the Ironwood—that she uncovered in the
sucking mud of her home marshes years ago. (For more about
the Ironwood, see Chapter 5: Magic Items.) She killed her
acolytes in their sleep and then turned them into juju zombies
at the command of the device. Under its malevolent influence,
she transformed herself into a lich—a rare choice among
druids. She now leads her undead fellows in creating an army
of shambling mounds. No one knows what Ysvel plans, but
she’s clearly up to no good.
The Wizards’ Reach
Along the southern shores of the Aglarondan peninsula lie the
cities of the Wizards’ Reach. Between the Sea of Fallen Stars
and the Yuirwood stretches a broad, sunny plain more than
300 miles long and up to eighty miles wide. Unlike the northern
coastal plain, the Wizards’ Reach is low, marked by extensive
tidal marshes and barrier islands, which makes
east-west travel difficult.