Viperstongue Ford is a strategic crossing of the River Vesper. Not only is the Vesper fordable here, but the ford coincides with a low saddle in the Earthspurs, forming one of the gateways to the northern Vast (the other being the higher Three Trees Pass). No settlement or building has stood long at Viperstongue due to the fact that the location has been the site of a number of battles.

It was at Viperstongue that the orcs and goblins defeated the dwarven armies under Deep King Tuir, setting up a retreat that ended in the underground battle of Deepfires. It was also at Viperstongue that the elven hero Beluar later routed the orcs, delaying the end of the older nonhuman Vast kingdoms.

There's no permanent settlement at this river-crossing, but there is an inn, The Stag and Viper, once the headquarters of a famous adventuring band. The Mistdown Marauders died rather messily when they tried to loot a ghost's treasure, but local legend says that their graves (in the trees north and east of the ford itself) hide cryptic directions to where the treasure lies hidden. The Marauders are thought to have amassed a fair amount of gems, jewelry, magical armor, and coinage, but none was found on their bodies, so it must have joined their killer's hoard. Some of the Marauders are said to guard the graves as undead - but compelling these unfortunates to reveal where they met their doom (and hence the treasure's resting-place) would be a risky business.