| A Primer on Vastian Geography |
|
| Glorming Pass | | Page updated on Sat, 25 Aug 2007 22:45:05 EDT | From The Everwinking Eye: Treasures of the Vast, Part Two by Ed Greenwood (Polyhedron #89, November 1993) as revised in The City of Ravens Bluff:
|
This wild mountain pass into the southern Vast is less used than Elvenblood Pass further to the west. Named for a local orc chieftain - a hero to his kind - who fell fighting in the pass, it is still a dangerous place today. Still, it sees a good deal of traffic, as it carries the North Road through the broken land between Dragon Falls and Sevenecho.
Glorming Pass is haunted by "The Phantom Knights" - ghostly horsemen in full plate armor who gallop spectral mounts the length of the pass, lances lowered. They sound solid and look real, turning their closed helms to face nearby living beings as they pass. They ride right through any that bar their way or simply fail to get out of the path in time but do no harm to those they pass through, except to confer a momentary chill and a longer (1 turn) period in which the touched being glows with a pale blue faerie fire radiance. No one knows who the Knights are or were, and they ignore all magic and attempts to influence or control undeath. Their touch causes all magical dweomers to glow a flickering ruby-red (revealing hidden or disguised magical items), and this has on occasion drawn attention to magic fallen by the roadside - usually on the corpse of someone orcs have slain.
Orcs are numerous in the mountains around the pass; merchants are advised not to attempt passage without numbers sufficient to give battle if need be. Sites for ambushes and deliberate rockfalls may be far fewer than in Elvenblood Pass, but the orc patrols are heavy and monsters of all sorts are frequent. At least one authority (Riliyyn Scantshar of Sevenecho) believes some evil power, perhaps a wizard, lich, or even an alhoon (illithilich) dwells in the peaks near the pass and has placed a deepspawn in the area to generate monsters and discourage intruders. This hidden lair, if it exists, may have powerful magic among its treasures. Other sages believe the deepspawn guards a fortress built around a gate leading to the demiplane of Ravenloft or another world entirely.
Whatever the truth about Glorming Pass, the orcs who swarm in the mountains around it have taken a considerable amount of treasure from unfortunate travelers over the years. Some at least must remain in the orc cavern-lairs in the vicinity.
|
|
|
|
|
This resource cites various works copyrighted by TSR, Inc., used with permission. By utilizing this resource, you affirm that you own legitimate, original copies of all TSR-owned works quoted directly (see below). You agree to use this resource solely for the purpose of further developing the TSR-owned Living City campaign. You agree not to further distribute this resource in any form.
ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AD&D, DUNGEON MASTER, POLYHEDRON, RPGA, and FORGOTTEN REALMS are registered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. LIVING CITY, RAVENS BLUFF, and MONSTROUS MANUAL are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. All TSR characters, character names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.
The TSR-owned works quoted directly in this resource are: City of Ravens Bluff; Polyhedron #88, #89, #91, #92, #93, #115, #116;
LC2: Inside Ravens Bluff, The Living City; Forgotten Realms® Campaign Setting; Cormanthyr: Empire of Elves; The Fall of Myth Drannor; and, Forgotten Realms® Adventures.
This entire resource is available as one large, easily printed document.
Please send all comments to dwb@netspace.org.