Fallcrest, Gateway to Adventure!

The adventurers meet in Fallcrest, near the middle of the broad borderland region known as the Nentir Vale. The vale is now mostly empty, with a handful of villages and towns scattered over this wide area. Click here to see a map of the Nentir Vale:

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Fallcrest

Fallcrest stands amid the crest of the Moon Hills at the falls of the Nentir River. It is at the intersection of the river, the old King’s Road that runs north and south, and the dwarven Trade Road from the east. The surrounding ridges shelter several small valleys where farmers and woodsfolk live; few are more than six or seven miles from the town.

In general the people outside Fallcrest’s walls earn their living by farming or keeping livestock, and the people inside the walls are artisans, laborers, or merchants. Fallcrest imports finished goods from the larger cities downriver and ironwork from the dwarf town of Hammerfast, and exports timber, leather, fruit, and grain. It also trades with the nearby town of Winterhaven.

The surrounding hills hold several marble quarries that once produced a good deal of stone, but the area has little demand for ornamental stone these days, and only a few stonecutters still practice their trade.

A small town built from the ruins of a larger city, Fallcrest is the crossroads of the Nentir Vale.

Population: 1,350; another 900 or so live in the countryside within a few miles of the town. The people of Fallcrest are mostly humans, halflings, and dwarves. No dragonborn or eladrin are permanent residents, but travelers of all races pass through on occasion.

Government: The human noble Faren Markelhay is the Lord Warden (hereditary lord) of the town. He is in charge of the town’s justice, defense, and laws. The Lord Warden appoints a town council to look after routine commerce and public projects.

Defense: The Fallcrest Guard numbers sixty warriors (see the accompanying statistics block), who also serve as constables. Moonstone Keep is their barracks. The Lord Warden can call up 350 militia at need.

Inns: Nentir Inn; Silver Unicorn. The Silver Unicorn is pricier and offers better service; the Nentir Inn sees a more interesting clientele.

Taverns: Blue Moon Alehouse; Lucky Gnome Taphouse; Nentir Inn taproom.

Supplies: Halfmoon Trading House; Sandercot Provisioners.

Temples: Temple of Erathis; Moonsong Temple (Sehanine); House of the Sun (Pelor).

Fallcrest’s Story

Up until four centuries or so ago, the Moon Hills and the surrounding Nentir Vale were thinly settled borderlands, home to quarrelsome human hill-chieftains and remote realms of nonhumans such as dwarves and elves. Giants, minotaurs, orcs, ogres, and goblins plagued the area. Ruins such as those on the Gray Downs or the ring-forts atop the Old Hills date back to these days, as do stories of the hero Vendar and the dragon of the Nentir.

With the rise of the empire of Nerath to the south, human settlers began to move up the Nentir, establishing towns such as Fastormel, Harkenwold, and Winterhaven. A Nerathan hero named Aranda Markelhay obtained a charter to build a keep at the portage of the Nentir Falls. She raised a simple tower at the site of Moonstone Keep three hundred ten years ago, and under its protection the town of Fallcrest began to grow.

Over the next two centuries, Fallcrest grew into a small and prosperous city. It was a natural crossroads for trade, and the Markelhays ruled it well. When the empire of Nerath began to crumble about a century ago, Fallcrest continued to flourish—for a time.

Ninety years ago, a fierce horde of orcs known as the Bloodspears descended from the Stonemarch and swept over the vale. Fallcrest’s army was defeated in a rash attempt to halt the Bloodspears out on Gardbury Downs. The Bloodspears burned and pillaged Fallcrest and went on to wreak havoc all across the Nentir Vale.

In the decades since the Bloodspear War, Fallcrest has struggled to reestablish itself. The town is a shadow of the former city; little trade passes up and down the river these days. The countryside for scores of miles around is dotted with abandoned homesteads and manors from the days of Nerath. Once again the Nentir Vale is a thinly settled borderland where few folk live. This is a place in need of a few heroes.

The Final Battle!

After the defeat of the sniper Skather, SWAG prepared to lead the troops gathering in Cathedral Square to defend it against an assault by a strike force led by the horde's powerful leaders.

SWAG organized the dwarven mercenaries, Tiri Kitor elf rangers, and town guard, along with the town's leaders and allies from the Luminous Order. As battle cries echoed through the night, a sudden storm swept into the square, knocking out the street lamps. Brave town guard ran forward to relight them, as the song of the horde's bard was heard singing an inspiring song to the troops.

With the sight of a goblin worg rider, the battle was on. Hobgoblins joined in as the Sumberton defenders moved to engage the attacks. Soon after, the horde's leaders emerged along with an assault force of hill giants and ogres. Petra rode forward to engage the enemy leader, Wyrmlord Hravek Kharn, a powerful hobgoblin in full plate red dragon scale armor. Odette and Trillian peppered the attackers with arrows while Quintavian enlarged the dwarves and DeKelley, and she blasted the enemy with magic attacks. DeKelley raced to heal the wounded.

As the battle raged, the horde leaders used their knowledge of SWAG from past battles to their advantage. Petra was flanked by giants as Kharn attacked with his wounding heavy pick. The ranger Saarvith fired bane arrows, knocking Harsty down. The bard Ulwai Stormcaller launched musical thunderstrikes while the bugbear Koth sent forth deadly lightning bolts. SWAG and the dwarves pummeled the hobgoblins, while the giants smashed through allied ranks and massacred town guard and elf archers.

Petra held off the attacks as long as she could, finally falling to pick and greatclub attacks, dying on the battlefield she fought to defend. But the tide had turned, and SWAG rallied to kill horde leader Khran and most of his minions, with most enemy troops killed, the other 3 horde leaders fled to fight another day.

After a night filled with raging battles, SWAG was victorious in driving off the horde. Through well-staged diplomacy, strong alliances and winning battlefield tactics, the horde proved too weak to regroup and scattered into the country. Chased down by the Luminous Order, the horde was vanquished, and the Valley of Obelisks was restored to peace.

In gratitude for SWAG's actions, Lord Carstellan granted each member of the group land and funds for a small keep, and Petra was raised from the dead. The Valley citizens began to rebuild the destroyed towns of Andrushel, Lukrimar Keep and Dondurran, while the Luminous Order moved to restore and fortify Vraath Keep to defend against any future threat. Peace and quiet returned to the Valley, for now....

Dragonspawn Sniper!

After holding back waves of horde attackers, Carstellan contacted DeKelley to inform him that the horde was falling back to regroup. Carstellan called on SWAG to return to Cathedral Square so the city defenders could also regroup to prepare for the final battle.

SWAG headed to Cathedral Square as the sounds of skirmishes continued to echo through the streets and the Tiri Kitor engaged the dragons in the aerial combat. As SWAG approached the square, Carstellan contacted DeKelley again as choatic shouts erupted in the square. Carstellan said that the powerful wizard Immerstal had fallen before Carstellan suddenly fell silent.

At Cathedral Square, SWAG saw Luminary Champion Armin Harrack yelling for soldiers to take cover from an unseen sniper. A poisoned human bane arrow flew across the square, hitting Harrack, rendering him helpless, while other bane arrows hit SWAG. Quintavian cast fog cloud to provide cover as SWAG headed toward the source of the sniper attack. Petra flew into a coffin shop where the sniper was hiding - finding a blackspawn ninja that could disappear in the blink of an eye, deflty evading sword attacks. DeKelley raced to heal fallen soldiers and damage from the bane arrows.

After a well placed glitterdust, Petra and Odette fought Skather, the ninja sniper, while the rest of SWAG battled hobgoblin spellcasters. With nowhere the flee to, Skather and his hobgoblin horde agents were destroyed.

After the battle, Carstellan and Harrack were healed but badly weakened from the poison arrow attacks. From the skies, Sellyria Starsinger reported that a group of hobgoblins led by the horde leaders themselves was headed for Cathedral Square. SWAG would have to lead the troops in a final battle to defend Sumberton from the Red Hand horde.