The Hall of Records

## A Sense of History

The campaign maintains Forgotten Realms canon until around 1296 Dale Reckoning (DR).

Like the Many Worlds theory, once the Primal suppositions manifest, the events of the timeline we know begin to diverge. It starts small, but there is a *sensitive dependence on initial conditions*...

Most canon events still unfold in some form or fashion. The world actors of 1296 owned the stage and their social momentum didn’t suddenly stop. The three cataclysms still rocked Toril, but the reaction, response and recovery starts to look a little different.

The farther away from the nexus of change in Baldur’s Gate, the less the Forgotten Realms' time stream is affected by the ripples of change. The closer the proximity, and the more time passes, the bigger the differences.

Nearly two centuries later, by the "current time" of 1489 DR, those suppositions are heating the Sword Coast to the boiling point. House Stonehearth is the catalyst for change and the PCs come in just as planning explodes into global action.

To learn of the significant events that changed Faerûn's fate over those two centuries, the Hall of Records maintains a separate Roll of Years laying out the recent historical timeline.

* **The Roll of Years**: the Primal timeline, 1296-1489 DR.

## The History of House Stonehearth

From the first marriage and the creation of the House to two centuries of marriage and heirs, Stonehearth has been subject to all the challenges that come with building and maintaining a viable political unit that rests on a family. Here, outside the normal roll of years, we delve into the family dynamic.

* **The History of House Stonehearth:**A look at the evolution and expansion of the House itself.

## The Geography of Abeir-Toril

The assumptions made in this campaign began with the first release of the content, and has evolved to account for the 5e canon versions, as listed the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. The maps are based on reinterpreting the fantasy-style render to a physical map base terrain with relief shading for topographic context.

The planet, though afflicted with the Sundering, is still roughly the size of the Earth. This gives some measure of logic when calculating gravity, distances and so on. The maps, however, have been a work in progress as game designers and artists try to find that sweet spot between how campaigns were written (without advice from a geographer) and how to retcon the movement of heroes and armies through that terrain, over those distances.

To give a local reference, according to the scale of the map provided by the 4e Faerûn Players Guide, the Troll Hills (which hosts Warlock's Keep), is a mountain range roughly equivalent in length and width to the natural layout of the San Gabriel-San Bernardino mountains in California's Transverse Ranges. For those in Los Angeles, if they've ever seen the snow-capped (or brush-fire afflicted) mountains just northwest, then followed the range on the two-and-a-half hour drive east to go skiing in Big Bear: *that's about the size of the "Troll Hills."*

Hills, indeed.

### Getting Sciency

#### **Geology**

Outside of the divine-phasing of one planet into two, the majority of Toril appears to be reasonably stable. There are points of tectonic stress and possible torsion, but no major intercontinental mountain ranges that would indicate major tectonic movement. Local areas may have more complex dynamics that come from original planet formation or more recent geological-level forces.

The central Sword Coast/Western Heartlands region appears to be currently geologically stable, with evidence of minor dynamics at best. However, the region was born in tremendous violence: the white cliffs of the Sword Coast are formed from vertical columnar jointed volcanic rocks (basalt), sometimes rising to heights of more than 1500 feet. It is these columns that give the cliffs their famous sword-like appearance.

The soil is fairly uniform and fertile through the area, but the depth to underlying bedrock varies enough that it has profoundly influenced the hydrology and channel patterns of the two major regional rivers in vastly different directions. The Winding Water river in the north of this area follows an extreme meandering path, while the River Chionthar stretches over almost 400 miles with minimal meandering before coming to it's two major tributaries.

#### **Meteorology-Climatology**

The Fields of the Dead, named after battles more than a millennia old, are fertile grasslands. The mild, temperate climate receives regular rain year-round. This feeds hundreds of minor streams and waterways, both feeding two major rivers that flow east to west and

The forests of the area would likely be larger if not subject to unregulated harvest and periodic combat waged with exceptional heat sources (fireballs and lightning bolts).

### The Geography of the Marquisate

The political map of the Stonehearth Marquisate starts with the original march, the territory claiming entirety of a northern-pointing riverine peninsula.

The first addition in 1414 wasn't actually an expansion – *it was a subtraction*, carving the Mageweave Barony from the original claim.

Twenty years later, the 1434 elevations greatly expanded the Stonehearth oversight. Stonehearth's other baronies were technically vassals of Tethyr and Cormyr, so this was the first true transition of the House from a march of Baldur's Gate to a "Marquisate" as a sovereignty.

The march

* The March of Stonehearth

The counties

* The County of Willishire
* The County of Hugheshire
* The County of Meadowshire
* The County of Blufshire

The baronies

* The Barony of Mageweave
* The Barony of Iseree
* The Barony of Suvkuruud
* The Barony of Vistpaaz
* The Barony of Caranthoran
* The Barony of Adstrecht
* The Barony of Abrotzo
* The Barony of Garpackie
* The Barony of Dasdraun

For more on the 1489 political layout of the Marquisate, see: Geography of the Marquisate.