Magevale
Area Map and Field Guide
(also available in full-size PNG version and PDF version)
Lands of Kria - a D&D campaign
Throughout his travels, famed explorer Shackleton Drake produced numerous field guides for travelers, traders, and adventurers. The one shown above outlines the area and major points of interest around the town of Magevale.
Additional details that you've learned about these areas is included below.
Herikyr's Tale: The History of Magevale
The valley here was once under the purview of a powerful mage named Herikyr. She had wandered and adventured through and around these mountain ranges, battling dark and powerful creatures and seeking ancient knowledge among the caves and mountaintops. She befriended both the elves of Myrindel and the dwarves of Ambervein and slowly built a base of operations southeast of what is now the town of Magevale.
With a powerful mage protecting the land, the trade caravans passing from Atandoth (to the north) to Oceangarde (to the south) and back began to take notice and benefit from Herikyr's presence. In exchange for her benevolence, they brought all manner of materials, tools, trinkets, and artifacts to her, allowing her to spend more time focusing her energy on research and magical explorations rather than puttering around the valley picking up sundries and whatnot.
It wasn't long before a settlement — really just a midpoint rest stop — formed along the trade road. Gradually, under the steady eye of the elves and druids of the forest, the (mostly) human traders became helpful and welcome. They offered to make trips to ferry goods between the elves and the dwarves, to industriously clear and re-plant sections of the forest, and, of course, they worked the soil as only humans can (alright, probably more like a close second to halflings, but humans make damn good farmers!)
As the years passed, the settlement grew and proper homes replaced the tents and makeshift shelters. Relationships with the still-operating north-south caravans brought outside goods and supplies to the valley, and some of the settlers soon found themselves becoming craftsmen in their own right.
Herikyr, meanwhile, grew more reclusive. Her visits to Magevale, Myrindel, and Ambervein became less and less frequent. With civilization melding into the wildlands of the valley, the demand for her protection waned, and she was growing older. . . and perhaps a bit less inclined to seek out battle when numerous magical artifacts and spellcrafting explorations still beckoned.
A millenium ago, her seclusion became accepted as 'permanent'. No one had seen her for many years. Some say she met with the elves of Myrindel and never returned, living out her days among their secret city in the forest river mists. Others purport that her ongoing magical experiments grew too ambitious and exacted a terrible toll, cracking her mighty, white stone tower from foundation to steeple and casting her into oblivion. (Those same people often claim that his tower remains haunted to this day: overgrown with enchanted flora and guarded by powerful magic.)
Town of Magevale
Now a quiet, almost sleepy hamlet set along the trade road, Magevale is home to about 50 families. Many of them tend small farms, carefully plotted in the gaps between the road and the surrounding woods, or work the lumber trade under agreements with the elves of Myrindel and the caretaker druids of Ildarach.
Erastius Felgarn, a retired soldier and caravan guard is the grizzled elder of the town. The people here are comfortable with his pragmatic leadership. A few others make a professional life through goods or services:
- Danilo Osgood runs the Halfway There Inn with his wife, Mara.
- Aria Cobb owns Cobb's Bits & Bobs, selling general goods, clothing, and basic equipment sourced from passing caravans.
- Olaf Beorgenstone, a woefully under-educated but brilliantly gifted blacksmith, also provides weaponsmithing and armorer services at his shop, Total Forgery.
Because of rumors of danger and hauntings in the woods, most of the townsfolk avoid the area of Herikyr's tower ruins to the southeast.
All manner of trade caravans pass through Magevale, typically one or two fortnightly from Myrindel, Ambervein, Turas Faen, Oceangarde, and Atandoth. Some of the caravan traders—particularly the ones who frequent Myrindel and Ambervein—have residences in Magevale for the off-season.
Turas Faen
Generally speaking, the Brotherhood of Turas Faen keeps to themselves. Visitors don't see their inner sanctums or practices. Apart from monthly supply runs to Magevale, they mostly keep to the confines of their monastery, its hilltop grounds, and the area immediately around it.
Brotherhood members stand out from other folk in Magevale because of their pale blue-gray uniforms with white cuffs and shoes (for novices) that gradually advance to black (for masters). Their garb is simple and unadorned, like their lifestyle. They don't use horses or other domesticated animals, opting instead to push/pull their trade wagon.
When visiting Magevale they often bring food they've grown to help feed those in need, or they'll bring textiles they've obtained through trade and donations from Oceangarde. On a few occasions, visiting members of the Brotherhood have also stayed in town a few days to help a new home builder or to assist with repairs after incidents such as fires or bad storms.
They are not talkative, and seem to prefer to let their actions speak for them. If there is a public-facing member of Turas Faen, it would be Brother Garan, who typically is the one who meets with monastery visitors and travels on most of the supply runs to Magevale.
Ambervein
This dwarven settlement famously began as a mining operation, and after the first Spring brought down a snowy avalanche that killed nearly a dozen of the workers, expedition leader Urist Battlebeard ordered his men to move the entire settlement inside the mountain itself.
With doors three times the height of a man, Ambervein offers a far more imposing impression to outsiders than one would expect compared to the bantering, drink-swilling, and singing mayhem that goes on inside.
The dwarves are quite fond of most visiting traders. Some say it's because they get visitors drinking as quickly as possible (and everyone knows that dwarves are notoriously difficult to outdrink). Others say it's because sleeping inside a mountain with millions of tons of rock overhead is a bit too intense for most non-dwarves to handle after a few nights. Either way, visits are generally short and trade relations are good-natured, if not completely inebriated.
All manner of metal, stone, and gem craftsmen abound in Ambervein, but also present are a few woodworkers, leatherworkers, and other less 'earthy' specialists.
Usdan Battlebeard, great-great-great-great-grandson of Urist, is the current leader of Ambervein.
Myrindel
Just under 200 elves live as a clan in Myrindel, amongst some of the densest and heaviest trees of the forest. The Bowsong River passes through the middle of their settlement, from which they draw fresh water that is traded to many other parts of the valley. Similarly, the lifecycle of the forest provides ample supplies of premium timber and hardwood via careful cultivation.
Although random outsiders are generally shunned, the elves built a trade depot close to their homes that elf-guided caravans can easily find.
The elves have a close alliance with the druids of Ildarach. Both parties have essentially given their lives over to the care and preservation of the valley forest.
Ildarach
Few know the true location of this druid hideaway, or who even inhabits it. Rumors swirl and tell of a dozen or so members — cloaked, mysterious figures of lore who come and go almost undetected. Most presume that the druids are far more interested in the forest and the 'balance of things' than of any of the valley's humanoid inhabitants (with the possible exception of the elves of Myrindel).
The half-elf druid Palinoth visits Magevale twice each year: once in Spring and once in Autumn.
[Though most people in Magevale don't know his name, Thavius is the Grand Druid of Ildarach. He tasked Aalnor, a new member of the grove, with a secret mission.]
Atandoth
A kingdom north of the valley. Aside from the fact that it uses the valley trade road, little is known of it.
Oceangarde
The free city-state and seaport to the south of the valley. A key regional trade hub in this part of Kria.