Kiern Vale Handbook

Chapter 5: The Northern Vale – The Drarun Hills and the “Stone Brothers”

Prologue | Landscape and Important Locations| The Hunting Estates| Important Characters

“That’s what they called it here—the Night of Screams. Everyone in the Black Bow clan heard her. Crying, begging for her life… for her children. But old Gorzag had already made up his mind. He spared no one—not even the little ones. They all heard the blows, and how the screams and the weeping grew fainter as the moon climbed high above the Black Brothers. They heard—and pretended it was nothing more than crickets in the brush.”

“That’s… horrifying.” The stranger grimaced, his eyes tracing the massive stones that loomed through veils of mist, high above the cliffs and the thunder of falling water.

“How can they—”

“That’s how it is here. No one speaks of Gorzag, not if they know what’s good for them. But the blood… the blood seeps deep, deep into the stones of the hills—and the hills do not forget.”

The Drarun Hills (also known as the Drarun Falls) form a rugged frontier region stretching across the hills that separate the heart of Kiern Vale from the Urgaka marshes to the north. This is a wild borderland, largely untouched and unchanged by the En’mirian conquest. It is home to ancient tribes who are neither considered En’miri nor Far’lil, though they may be distant kin to some of the human peoples who once dwelled in Urgaka.

Today, the region has become a battleground—between two of the greedy uncles of Lord Kor-Om’thel and the hill tribes, and among the tribes themselves. The Drarun Hills also served as the setting for the campaign “Farewell, O Great Father”, one of the earliest campaigns set in the world of Melestra.

Important Information

Population: Approximately 2,500 inhabitants. Around 250 reside in each of the two “hunting estates” of the brothers Eramel and Tolvis Kor-Om’thel, while the rest are scattered among the various hill tribes or in camps of miners and treasure-seekers.

Rulers: The brothers Eramel and Tolvis Kor-Om’thel each rule over their respective estate and its surrounding lands.

Tribal Leaders: Old Gorzag, Foran “Four-Fingers,” and Orog “the Broken” hold sway—each to a different extent—over various clans dwelling in the hills and beneath them.

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