Guide to Karthwasten

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Karthwasten is the largest city in the Reach and a historic center of trade. Though it suffered damage in the War of the Bend'r Mahk, today Karthwasten remains a wealthy and prosperous center of culture and commerce.

Jarla Jona of the Nord Fire-Hand clan legally rules Karthwasten from her seat at Dragonstar, but in practice the city is controlled by her Thane, Formir. Formir has sat the Red Palace with King Barda's support since the tense resolution to the Second Siege of Karthwasten.

Besides the grandiose Red Palace, Karthwasten hosts a number of other locations of note. The Dancing Saber and the Ruby Drake Inns offer warm beds to travelers from out of town, and some of the Reach's finest wares can be purchased the Bazaar on the north side of the city. A Fighters Guild chapter can be found adjacent to the farms inside the walls.

 

From its plateau seat, Karthwasten is able to control both forks of the upper Karth River, the whole of Lorchwuir Heath, and a sizeable portion of the Vorndgad Forest.

Briag Cnoss

Two native Reachmen settlements can be found to the east. The larger, called Haimtir, sits amidst the ruins of the more sizeable town of the same name destroyed during the war. Criaglorc, a hostile camp of Reach-folk in the shadow of the immense ruined Direnni citadel Mirilstern, sits between Haimtir and Karthwasten. South of Briag Cnoss lies the border outpost of Vorngyd's Stand, named for the late King of the Reach whose heroic command of the pass sealed the victory of Nord forces in the region during the war.

Vorndgad Forest

The Vorndgad Forest is a densely timbered swathe of land north of Karthwasten that stands in stark contrast to the breezy, open terrain of the Lorchwuir Heath and the southeastern plateaus. These woods are old; enterprising travelers often stumble across ruins of empires long lost amidst the rolling hills and granite cliffs. Chief among these in the south is the striking Nordic fortress ruin Vornberg, now crumbling into dust as the centuries roll past. Far to the east, across the eastern fork of the Karth, sits a hilltop settlement of the Reachman Hunnath tribe called Cairac.

Karthgad

The only settlement of note in the Vorndgad Forest, Karthgad is the seat of the Bear Clan, an old and proud Nordic clan who boasts of holding the line against Redguard incursions down the Karth in the days before the War. Thane Gorvrda rules Karthgad in King Barda's name.

Sundered Hills

East of the Karth River's eastern fork and over the pines of the Vorndgad Forest lie the gravelly slopes of the Sundered Hills. Straddling the borderlands between the Reach, White Hold, and Falkreath Hold, the region's treacherous terrain and foggy conditions have doomed many an army. Atop one such hill sits the ruined Remanite fortress Asteriar, constructed during the Hestran conquest of the Reach in the First Era.

Beorinhal

The Rock of the Reach, the Granite Hall, Beorinhal is the oldest Nordic settlement in the entire Reach, and serves as Markarth's loyal right hand in military matters. Now that the city no longer guards the border with Hammerfell, and the region's center of power has shifted to Karthwasten, Beorinhal's population has dwindled somewhat. It remains an important center of power in the south, however.

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