During the invasion Har was entirely overrun by evil forces, except for the town and the castle. Most villages were overrun by hobgoblins and much of the population was either driven off, killed, or enslaved. When the Green Adept was defeated these hobgoblin hordes were much reduced in power. The land remains largely depopulated and fell monsters still roam about largely unchecked, but in numbers much reduced from those of several years ago. Bands of heavily armed humans and dwarves are now beginning to move back into the area.
Har was originally the northern march of the ancient Kingdom of Kinergh. During the invasions of the 600's which destroyed the Kingdom it was overrun by evil forces. The Dukes of Har made pacts with the evil invaders during this time in order to maintain their holdings and it is said that their line lives under a curse to this day as a consequence.
In the 800's Kinergh began to rebuild its strength in the south. At this time the dwarves began to reopen their mines and works in the area. The Dukes of Har threw off their evil masters, allied themselves with the dwarves, and became independent. Since that time they have allied themselves with the other lordships of Kinergh and until the events of the year 1000 Har's population and wealth slowly increased.
The depredations of the Green Adept's forces have reduced the Duchy's power once again to the point where the current Duke has been obligated to accept the overlordship of the Duke of Tisloch.
The TownOfLad is the largest habitation in the Duchy and the only one large enough to be truly considered to be a town and not a village.
Castle Har is the ancestral seat of the Dukes of Har. It is located about 10 miles north northeast of the Town of Lad. Har is an ancient castle rising from the top of a steep rocky outcrop above the gorge of the Cleft River, a tributary of the Calthar. The Castle itself has a grim and dark aspect. Its dark stone walls rise 80' above the sheer slopes of the hill and are largely covered with dark ivy and thick layers of lichen.
This ancient hill and its shrine are the location of the mysterious Well of Stars.
GolnathHaud is an evil temple near Lad which seems to occupy a strange zone in which planar gateways form. It is rumoured that in ancient times this was a temple to the god Atur. However the site is currently occupied, and has been for centuries, by the current evil temple. It is said that this site was used for evil rites in the days of the necromancer Ugar. Some say that the ancient temple of Atur which was built here later was somehow spirited away into another realm and replaced by the current temple. What is known is that from time to time foul undead monsters issue forth from Golnath Haud to devastate the surrounding lands.
The heads, or Erch Naur are a mysterious pair of monoliths carved in the shape of vast heads. They are made of a dark stone not otherwise seen anywhere in Kinergh. The heads rise on each bank of the Calthar River. At this point the river runs through a deep gorge at the head of the Vale of Lad. Beyond the heads lies an almost uncharted and uninhabited landscape of steep pine covered mountain slopes and broken terrain winding up into the fastnesses of the Melthian Mountains. Who or what created the heads is unknown and they have the appearance of being very ancient and worn.
In the far northwest corner of Har lie the entrances to the mines of the Mountain Dwarves.
Ten miles east of Castle Har, a great spur of rock comes down from Mt Karth and ends in a small peak, Gar Talat. Standing atop this hight is a great ruined tower, Ugar Mlat, the Tower of Ugar. The land for miles around this place is uninhabited. This is all that remains of the might of the dread necromancer Ugar, who once spread his evil empire far across Western Erithnoi.
This is a grove of mighty trees which, much like Tlin-A-Yilliki to the east, is sacred to Yilliki. Its priests are highly secretive and only the hierarchs of the Lord of Trees know the secrets which lie within. Copyright © 2022 Tod G. Harter. All rights reserved. No unauthorized distribution without the express written permission of the copyright holder. This document was prepared using Hairball version 0.5.1 on 2022-02-26 License