A Primer on Vastian Geography
RPGA LC Home | LC Meta Web
High Haspur
Page updated on Sat, 25 Aug 2007 22:45:05 EDT

From the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting: A Grand Tour of the Realms by Ed Greenwood and Jeff Grubb:

This alpine village is located in the heights of the mountains separating Ravens Bluff from Procampur. Most of the village is built on a series of low bluffs that overlook the trail, giving the towns folk an excellent chance to defend themselves against frequent orcish (and other goblinkind) raids.

High Haspur has been ruled by the Morninglight family, a clan of gnomes, for generations. The Morninglights have proved to be expert negotiators with both the humans and the dwarves of the area, and maintain a peace between the two races. The head of the family is Fankolin Morninglight (NG gm I7/T10).

High Haspur is the site of an excellent inn, the Elf in Armor, also run by the Morninglights. The inn is named after the elven hero Beluar, who perished just north of the village in a battle with orcs. The trail through the mountains is called Elvenblood Pass in his memory, and the hero is buried in the small hamlet of Sarbreenar, located between High Haspur and the pass.

There are shrines to Tymora and Tyr in High Haspur, along with several others to various elven, dwarven, and gnomish deities, as well.

From The Everwinking Eye: Treasures of the Vast, Part Three by Ed Greenwood (Polyhedron #91, January, 1994) as revised in The City of Ravens Bluff:

This mountain village stands south of Elvenblood Pass, where Helve's Trail (from Maerstar) meets the High Trail (from Ravens Bluff to Procampur). High Haspur is reputed to be a place of riches: the ruling Morninglight gnomes are said to be the only miners and gold-smelters currently operating in the Vast. This clan work underground, digging tunnels down from their gold-cellars and the caverns where they assemble and test their many inventions. Among the Morninglight innovations are multiple-bolt crossbows, various nasty traps, mobile corridor-blocking armored shields, and other devices that would enable a few gnomes to defend a subterranean area against more numerous human or orc raiders.

A shaft leading down from a fireplace in The Elf in Armor, the excellent inn run by the Morninglights, is said to be the main way into the underground family holdings. Certain elderly dwarves who hold grudges against the gnome clan can be persuaded (by gold and drink) to tell something of the traps in the shaft and the locations of the various caverns and other entrances. There's a local dwarven legend about a natural cavern in the mountains somewhere northwest of High Haspur: a cave entirely lined with flashing and glittering beljurils. These seawater-green, fist-sized, and very hard gems periodically blaze with light, briefly giving off enough radiance to read by. Much prized all over Faerûn, they are worth 5,000 gold each - and the cavern, if it still exists, must bold many thousand beljurils. The legend is vague about how the cavern is reached (or guarded) but says darkly that all who try to find the cavern either disappear or are soon found dead, each with a single beljuril crammed into his or her mouth.

From Alyssia's Travail by Andrew Rothstein (1998):

Albert and Suzanne Morandin run the High Haspur office of the family business, Transmountain Carters. They work and live within a white compound surrounded by a gate, just off of market square. The Morandin's are important merchants within High Haspur.

  
 Contents

Ravens Bluff Mossbridges New Hope Hidden Hollow Arbonne Tavilar The Mage's Tower Adhe Wood Brynwood Three Trees Pass King's Reach Glorming Pass Maerstar Sevenecho Tsurlagol Procampur Sarbreenar High Haspur Portsoy Burrowbluff Tantras Orlimmin Highbank Forest Dragon Falls Dark Hollow Dead Tree Hollow Fallentree Bambryn Hlintar Sword's Pool Sendrin Thindilar Blanaer Maskyr's Eye Kurth Ylraphon Calaunt Glacier of the White Worm Beluar's Hunt Elvenblood Pass Viperstongue Ford High Country River Vesper River Vesper Fire River Fire River Flooded Forest  Introduction
 Maps of the Vast
 Overview of the Vast

Locations

 Adhe Wood
 Arbonne
 Bambryn
 Beluar's Hunt
 Big Moe
 Blanaer
 Brynwood
 Burrowbluff
 Calaunt
 Dark Hollow
 Dead Tree Hollow
 Dragon Falls
 Elvenblood Pass
 Fallentree
 Fire River
 Flooded Forest
 Glacier of the White Worm
 Glorming Pass
 Hidden Hollow
 High Country
 High Haspur
 Highbank Forest
 Hlintar
 King's Reach
 Kurth
 Maerstar
 Mage's Tower
 Maskyr's Eye
 Mossbridges
 New Hope
 Orlimmin
 Portsoy
 Procampur
 Ravens Bluff
 River Vesper
 Sarbreenar
 Sendrin
 Sevenecho
 Swords Pool
 Tantras
 Tavilar
 Thindilar
 Three Trees Pass
 Tsurlagol
 Viperstongue Ford
 Ylraphon

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.