Delhalls

The Delhalls was a Dwarven mine in western Vaasa. It was considered a "twin" of Talagbar in eastern Vaasa. As of the late 15 century DR, it was under the control of the Warlock Knights of Vaasa.
==Geography==
The Dellhalls were located in the west of Vaasa within the eastern foothills of the West Galena Mountains, just south of the Bottomless Bogs. 
==Description==
The mines themselves were largely uninteresting: they looked just like any other mine. However, hidden deep within the mines (requiring about an hour to reach) were miles and miles of mazelike tunnels that twisted in every direction. Explorers could get lost in these tunnels for months, assuming they did not fall prey to the large patch of oblivion moss that blanketed the walls and ceiling of one particularly dangerous and humid cavern.
===Iyraclea's Treasure Vault===
Deep within the twisting tunnels was a vault sacred to Auril and said to contain some great treasure or artifact belonging the Ice Queen Iyraclea. The vault entrance was located inside an unnaturally cold cavern and appeared to be a solid wall of worked stone covered in glowing glyphs and stones carved with strange symbols. The cavern was heavily protected with both mechanical and magical traps, including geysers of frigid water, volleys of razor-sharp ice shards, and crushing blocks of ice falling from the ceiling. The glyphs on the wall were likewise dangerous, and could instantly freeze a living creature: these required a complex ritual to disarm—involving the invocation of arcane, divine, and primal magics—and performing this ritual caused the caster's hair and skin to take on a pale blue color. Once the wards were gone, the shimmering outline of a door became visible, but opening that door required pressing a specific sequence of symbols carved into the rocks, some of which were too high off the ground to be reached by hand. Upon completing this sequence, an ancient mechanism caused the door to slide into the ground. 
The vault interior was nearly with a ceiling. The center of the floor was covered in a frozen lake lit from below with bluish light, and the walls and ceiling were carefully carved and enhanced with illusions to give the appearance of being outside in the middle of a blizzard, complete with twinkling lights in the pattern of falling snow. At the far side of the vault from the door was set of stairs rising to a dais atop which was a throne made of ice flanked by statues of elemental creatures.
==Trade==
In the 15 Century DR, Dellhalls was exporting gems and copper. The mines were estimated to be rich with deposits of bloodstone, emerald, and ruby, and to hold veins of not only copper but iron.
Delhalls exported its gems and ores via the trading town of Avang, and was quite profitable.
==History==
Delhalls, along with its twin Talagbar, were frozen under the Ice Run for millennia. At some point several centuries prior to the 14 century DR, the tunnels beneath the Delhalls became home to an iceborn clone of the Ice Queen Iyraclea, which was sealed inside the mighty magical vault.
The ancient mines were rediscovered sometime in the 13 century DR, but it was not until around 1372 DR when melting at the edge of the Great Glacier fully exposed them. The two mines were said to be so rich in wealth that their discovery changed the culture of Vaasa, making its people more greedy. Mining had fully resumed by the 15 century DR.
When the ravages of the Spellplague struck in the , the magical vault beneath the mines survived intact and remained sealed.
Mining operations stalled in the , when an earthquake rocked the mines, blocking several shafts and collapsing the entrance. The local Warlock Knight lord—Knight-Fellthane Vorlanth—ordered dwarven slaves to clear the rubble and reopen the mine, but while doing so, the workers uncovered new shafts and tunnels filled with strange crystal formations, bizarre plants, and a mysterious, alluring music that echoed from the depths. This haunting tune sounded like the singing of both a human woman and something otherworldly, and filled the listener with a sensation of being trapped in a biting winter storm. While none could make out the words, somehow the raw meaning of the song could be intuited by those who heard it, and it seemed to call for the listener to follow the song. This music lured the workers deeper into the mines, and they started going missing. 
These occurrences were a result of the earthquake having caused passages to collapse and thus open the way to Iyraclea's vault, at which point the iceborn began calling out to the faithful of Auril to free her: the singing that echoed through the Delhalls was in fact a complex prayer to Auril. Within a few tendays, Vorlanth—having discovered old texts detailing the vault but not its contents—recruited a group of adventurers to infiltrate the vault. The group was led by Lysara, a priestess of Auril, and included the rogue Kallista, the warlock Kathra, the ranger Quarfein, and the warlord Bharash. However, these adventurers failed in their quest when they were killed by oblivion moss while exploring the mazelike tunnels.
==Inhabitants==
As of the late 15 century DR, the mine was largely operated by dwarven slaves under the oversight of a foreman named Omog, who ran the mine on behalf of Knight-Fellthane Vorlanth.
The twisting tunnels deep within the mines was home to bats, hazardous mossy deathcap mushrooms, and a colony of oblivion moss. The vault at the heart of these tunnels was home to the iceborn clone of Iyraclea, which believed itself to be the true Iyraclea. Beneath the frozen lake in her vault dwelt a blizzard dragon that obeyed her commands.
==Appendix==
===Appearances===
===References===
FR:Delhalls
Category:Mines
Category:Dwarven locations
Category:Locations in Vaasa
Category:Locations in the Bloodstone Lands
Category:Locations in the Cold Lands
Category:Locations in Northeast Faerûn
Category:Locations in Faerûn
Category:Locations on Toril
Category:Exports gems
Category:Exports copper