Kuldahar

Kuldahar was a settlement that sprung up around the gargantuan ancient oak tree, holy to the Church of Silvanus in the northern reaches of the Spine of the World mountains.
==Description==
Kuldahar Valley was a small mountain dale where the -tall Great Oak and the settlement of Kuldahar stood, roughly at the center of Kuldahar Pass. Unlike the surrounding areas, the area was warm and green, windswept, and frigid throughout the year. Most of the town's buildings and amenities were built into the great tree's massive roots and into the ground at the tree's base – they were the oldest structures in the valley, created by the druids sometime around 1240-1250 DR.
At the town center was the Heartstone Gem with the Archdruid's home directly to the north, flanked by a small stream. A shop was located on the stream, a forge on the tip of town, an inn on the east side, and a wizard's tower on the far west end. There was a second part of the town, the farming sector, which was composed of fields with a guard tower in the middle. The far west side of the fields was a landing spot for Oswald Fiddlebender's airship, along with a cliff on the north tip of the town. These buildings were surrounded by thick, healthy grass and wildflowers.
==Location==
Kuldahar was located to the southeast from Easthaven, past the Ice Lakes on the other side of the Wall.Even though the original game's manual stated that Kuldahar is 60 miles southeast of Easthaven, this was later changed in Icewind Dale II. Kuldahar's location was pushed further east, judging by the in-game map and the adventure path: the party moves across the Spine of the World across the Fell Wood, a new location introduced in lore. From there, the party moves east to the Cold Marshes, located on the very northern end of the Ice Lakes. The journey continues northeast through the underground locations via the Black Raven Monastery, emerging near Kuldahar, back on the northern side of the Spine.
Kuldahar was built in a tiny valley on the Spine of the World, along the second lesser-known route that connected Icewind Dale to the southern lands on the other side of the Wall. This position made Kuldahar somewhat notable in the region. This lesser-known route across the Spine of the World leading through Kuldahar to the Ten Towns laid through Kuldahar Pass – a mountain road that was nothing more than a collection of winding footpaths and steep ledges barely big enough to fit a beast of burden and unlikely to accommodate a large merchant's wagon. Kuldahar Pass's many dangers scared even the most daring merchants, and the ever-present threat of giants left the route in scant use. The portion of that route that crossed the Spine of the World was simply referred to as the Southern Pass. A settlement of Slow Cedric's Gallop stood alongside that route in the mountains until 1170 DR when it was wiped away by an orcish horde.
==History==
According to the local legend, the gargantuan ancient oak was a holy gift of Silvanus, the Oakfather, who planted its acorn into the Spine of the World thousands of years before the 13 century DR. The oak was imbued with Silvanus' magic and stood as a thriving testament to the raw power of nature. Unknown to most, the tree was planted near a yuan-ti outpost that hid a portal to Chult, but over thousands of years, the outpost was ruined and the ancient portal – swallowed by the tree's roots.
Subsequently, circa the , a wandering Archdruid of Silvanus stumbled upon the massive Kuldahar oak and immediately realized that this was a place sacred to the Oakfather. The Great Oak and the shrine built by the Archdruid gathered a small following of druids of Silvanus who cared for the holy site. In exchange, the tree kept the druid village warm and safe from the deadly cold of the Spine of the World. The oak became a center of the pilgrimage and gained renown as an oracle for the Oakfather faith. The town itself, beyond the worshipers and clergy of Silvanus, began only about thirty or forty years before the , after Kuldahar Pass was first discovered and, with it, the sheltered valley was unveiled to the wider world. The town grew thanks to bewildering and wondrous tales of a massive magical oak that gave folk a miraculous boon of warms amidst some of the coldest environments of Northwest Faerûn.
The new settling was met with resistance from the Archdruid of the time, who sought to protect the oak and believed that to do so, Kuldahar had to stay in seclusion. The valley was blocked from intruders via magically summoned walls of brambles and other ensorcelled nature barriers. Eventually, the druids could only stop the settlers from approaching the tree, but Kuldahar Valley was exposed to outsiders. That changed with the next Archdruid – Tolben. He made the tree accessible to those who settled in the valley, as he believed that the village's formation was the Oakfather's will and was inevitable. Under Archdruid Tolben's leadership, the druids forged a union with settlers and ensured Kuldahar's harmonious existence.
The next notable event in Kuldahar's history was the terrible war of the . During that period of time, storms cut Kuldahar off from the outside world, and the Great Oak's magical warmth began to wean. Those who settled in the Kuldahar Valley were forced out of their homes in fear of freezing to death and sought shelter close to the oak's trunk. The strife eventually came to an end when a destroyed caravan brought a band of adventuring caravan guards to Kuldahar. The heroes stood up to the encroaching cold and saved the great doomed oak. The cause of that year's strife was devil Belhifet who was aided by a band of frost giants, led by Kreg Frostbeard, who caused the avalanche, sealing Kuldahar Pass in the west, and Lysan, a Chosen of Auril, who lived within the village, plotting its demise to appease her deity. The person who brought the adventurers – Hrothgar, perished with the rest of the caravan, but his body was buried in a glen within the valley. That burial area was named Hrothgar's Glen and became a cemetery of sorts for the people of Kuldahar. This conflict resulted in the Archdruid Arundel's death, passing the Archdruid's mantle to the half-elf Iselore.
The town of Kuldahar regained its blessed warmth and the people returned to working the valley. The population slowly grew, and so did infrastructure. By the , Archdruid Iselore had been guiding the community for twenty years and helped raise cambions Isair and Madae, feeling kinship with the fellow "half-breeds." But Kuldahar was threatened once again by outside forces. The Legion of the Chimera targeted settlements of the north and allied with the yuan-ti, who were tasked with bringing down the Great Oak and the gem. The Legion was led by disgruntled campion twins who were raised in Kuldahar. When Madae and Cedra, the Legion's lieutenant, led a squad of neo-orogs, yuan-ti, and harpies into Kuldahar, Isair bravely stood in the town's defense, shoulder to shoulder with a group of mercenaries from Targos who were the Legion's foil. Madae's yuan-ti hacked at the Great Oak's roots in the struggle, severing several, but the tree was saved. One of the severed roots hid an ancient portal that, once opened, would flood the valley with snake men from the distant land of Chult. One way or another, the yuan-ti were wiped out, and the settlement – was saved.
==Notable Locations==
===Inns & Taverns===
*Evening Shade Inn, an inn with its large doors fitted between the Great Oak's roots, run by Eidan, and later, by Aldwin in the late 13 century DR.
* The Root Cellar, a humble tavern run by Whitcomb in the late 13 century DR.
===Shops & Blacksmiths===
*Conlan's Smithy, a smith's shop run by Conlan and his son Sheemish in the late 13 century DR.
*Gerth's Equipment Shoppe, a general goods who run by Gerth in the late 13 century DR.
*Oswald's Laboratory, a crashed airship used as a shop by Oswald Fiddlebender in the late 13 century DR and later returning to Kuldahar in the early 14 century DR.
===Temples===
*House of the Bleeding Rose, a small local temple of Ilmater, run by Reverend Mother Egenia, and staffed by Sister Calliana, Brother Gus, and Brother Ferg in the late 13 century DR.
===Other===
*Hrothgar's Glen, the town's burin ground.
* Orrick's Tower, the home of Orrick the Gray, a wizard researcher who studied mythals in the late 13 century DR.
==Notable Inhabitants== 
*Arundel, a human druid and the Archdruid of Kuldahar in the late 13 century DR.
*Hjollder, a barbarian of the Tribe of the Bear, guest in Kuldahar in the late 13 century DR.
* Iselore, the half-elven Archdruid of Kuldahar, who picked up Arundel's mantle after his death.
*Tolben, a human druid and Arundel's predecessor some years before the late 13 century DR.
*Urnst the Potter, one of Kuldahar's craftsmen in the late 13 century DR.
==Appendix==
===Notes===
===See Also===
*History of Kuldahar
===Gallery===
Kuldahar.jpg|The home of Kuldahar's archdruid.
IWD HoW Kuldahar.png|thumb|Kuldahar in 1281 DR.
===Appearances===
===External links===
*
===References ===
de:Kuldahar
Category:Shrines to Silvanus
Category:Shrines
Category:Settlements
Category:Silvanite locations
Category:Locations in the Spine of the World
Category:Locations in the Frozenfar
Category:Locations in Northwest Faerûn
Category:Locations in Faerûn
Category:Locations on Toril
Category:Locations
Category:Locations in Icewind Dale
Category:Locations on the Sword Coast North