The Fallen Lands of Forgotten Realms

The Fallen Lands

Welcome dear reader to the world of Forgotten Realms; and today we will look at a very forgotten realm indeed: that of the Fallen Lands.  Some include the lands I am going to describe as part of the Savage Frontier but the Fallen Lands are aptly named as you will learn dear reader.  The Savage Frontier, what a fierce and foreboding name is it not dear reader?  But is your purpose to brave the unknown or to reclaim lost lands?  You will find that the Fallen Lands contain both.

The Fallen Lands are named for it once was home to a major site of the Netheril Empire.  The Netheril were an ancient human civilization that was known for sorcery they learned from the elves that ended up destroying themselves with.  At the height of the Netheril Empire, Lady Saharel a powerful wizard created an enormous complex.  The once great castle now lies in ruins in the last stretch of inhabitable land before the Great Desert.  Once known as Saharelgard, now known as Spellgard, the location is still sought for various reasons that are known only to those who brave to travel here.

The Fallen Lands can be found almost in the middle of the Triangle of Trees.  The Triangle of Trees refers to the boundaries of the Far Forest, the Southwood, and Weathercote Wood.  These woods are also broken up by the Greypeak Mountains with a new major human trade route passing thru the Dawn Pass in the Greypeaks.

The Fallen Lands experiences raids from the human nomads, the Bedine, and various monstrous attacks out of the Greypeaks.  But the Fallen Lands are home to their own warring and raiding factions; two opposed hobgoblin tribes that have a centuries old blood feud.  Oh dear reader, the Fallen Lands contains many fun and exciting things that you will just have to discover for yourself.

The Fate of Hermedhie

Oh dear reader where last did we see Hermedhie?  Maybe at the wizard's duel against Count Harald Khorien.  Maybe at the great wheel of blood in the Underground Forest.  Maybe with the hoards of the Church of All battling against frost dragons in the Abyss.  Maybe dear reader but the last any normal person saw of Hermedhie was in Taeghas, in the city of Stormpoint, at the Castle Gweledigaeth (ancient Andu for "vision over the waves"). 

Hermedhie had gone to Taeghas to claim the land as her's after defeating Harald Khorien in a wizard's duel.  As Count of Taeghas, Harald's heart was never in it.  Harald spent his time researching the arcane arts (and probably should of spent even more time studying before trying to best a wizard like Hermedhie in a duel).  Harald had been a student of Luclien of the Seven Stars and heir to Luclien's wizard holdings.  When Luclien heard of Harald's gamble of putting his title and holdings on the line, Luclien moved to try and stop the duel.  But Luclien was distracted by his ancient enemy; Seòras of the Crystal Staff.  Luclien, Seòras, and the arch-lich Sephiroth engaged in a three way stand off as a series of wizard duels went down. 

The victors of the duels were (1) the Wizard (Paeghen Aneirin) defeated Mhistecai (Isolde Mierelen), (2) Duke Sedrie Bellamie defated the High Mage Aelies, and of course (3) Hermedhie (Niela Braeloren) defeated Count Harald Khorien.  The winning of the duels gave the Wizard governorship of Mieres and title of Mhistecai, it gave Sedrie the forest of the Erebannien and the title of High Mage, and finally Hermedhie won the lands of Taeghas and the title of Countess to rule them.

So obviously dear reader each member of the Greater Wizard's Cabal (Sedrie, Paeghen, and Niela) all had busy schedules of their own to complete before attempting to take control of their newly acquired territory.  So each member of the Cabal would take different amounts of time, resources, and planning to gaining control of these new areas.  Hermedhie happened to be the first of the Cabal to try and assert control and happened to go alone.  Word came from Castle Gweledigaeth in a series of decrees that Niela Braeloren was the new Countess of Taeghas, another series of decrees changed around some appointmentships of judges, sheriffs, and tax collectors, and another decree marked a day to celebrate the new countess.  All seemed to be going as planned for Hermedhie.

But after less than a week sitting on the Coral Throne in Castle Gweledigaeth; the new Countess had gone missing.  After a few days of frantic searching by the army, the militias, and pretty much every other government offical - Luclien of the Seven Stars appeared and declared Hermedhie dead.  Luclien then called a counsel of the local nobles and began the process to pick a new ruling family of Teaghas.

So what dear reader is the fate of Hermedhie, it is after all the titular reason you are reading this entry.  Simply put Hemedhie was kidnapped by her father, Seòras, and taken to some place in the Faerie Realm of the Seelie.  Unbeknownst, Seòras was creating a powerful weapon to use and destroy the Cold Rider.  When the Cold Rider was defeated by Haelyn, Seòras lost his target and so picked the Court of the Unseelie.  Seòras had hoped to destroy the most powerful evil in the Shadow Realm using a powerful cannon that harness the essence of blood power, the seeming, and arcane might.

Seòras of the Crystal Staff like the dragon Tarazin the Gray had won over the adoration of the goodly faeries had was allowed great access and pleasure in the Faerie Realm.  Seòras created a magical tower in the Faerie Realm and went about research to create a weapon powerful enough to obliterate the Cold Rider.  And thus so did so many years go by that most had forgot about the ancient wizard.  But then dear reader, as you might know, Seòras popped up looking for a prime candidate to power his machine.  And it appears dear reader that the best choice was Seòras own daughter, the wizard known as Hermedhie.

With the kidnapping of Hemedhie, Seòras was in his final process of powering up his machine and that finally caught the attention of both the Seelie and the Unseelie.  Fearing the powerful wizard of the Crystal Staff, Lussia Dark Queen of the Faeries (old Grandma'ma) sent a dragon under her service to find out what was going on.  Tarazin the Gray was sent by the Dark Queen and was able to pierce into the Faerie Realm (being that Tarazin the Gray is well liked by good faeries).  Tarazin confronted Seòras and gave him a good fight but the power of the Crystal Staff was too much for the wyrm.  It is said, dear readers, that the death knell of the dragon was heard throughout the Spirit Realm.

And thus dear reader did the Queen of the Faeries did take notice.  The Queen of the Faeries appered before Seòras and the body of the great wyrm.  The Queen of the Faeries shed tears on the corpse of Tarazin the Gray and said, "Tarazin the Great."  After a few tears fell upon the body of the dragon, the corpse seemed to start to glow with power and break up into small particles of light.  "You are with us now and forever," the Queen of the Faeries said and the particles of light moved in all direction and spread out among the Faerie Realm.  With an evil look, the Queen of the Faeries confronted her old ally; the mortal wizard clutching a potent crystalline magic staff. With a meer look, the Queen of the Faeries shattered the Crystal Staff.  The entropic energy contained within the magical staff broke free and drained all the arcane might from Seòra.  Now more mortal than ever before, Seòras begged on groveled knee for his life, but the words could not come.  Seòras had lived to such an advanced age because of the powers of his Crystal Staff but now with that phylactery gone: Seòra's own body could not withstand the loose of such arcane support that Seòras collapsed under the weight of his own age and mortality.  Seòras would die on the floor of his great lab next to his deus ex machina.

The Queen of the Faeries next turned her attention to the humming machine that Seòras had built.  The grand machine had been a lifetimes work for the mad wizard; finding away to use the powers of arcane magic, the seeming (power over the Shadow/Spirit Realm), and the blood power of mortals.  The battery to power the machine was Seòra's own daughter: Niela Braeloren - the wizard Hermedhie.  The Queen of the Faeries could see the mortal women in the machine and could tell that somehow the power of machine was growing to some kind of maximum potential. The Queen of the Faeries could see Hermedhie and sent a thought of communication to the human wizard, "I cannot stop this machine but I can destroy it but take would destroy you as well."  The last words from Niela Braeloren, the wizard Hemedhie, where to the Queen of the Faeries, "do it."

And thus dear reader you know the fate of the first wizard you meet known as Hemedhie.