The Heralds are rumored to maintain many hidden caches and hideaways all over the Realms-notably hidden rooms or cellars in many cities. Here we briefly introduce only the two major, fabled Herald strongholds.
Heralds Hall: The ghosts or wraiths of some famous warriors are said to guard the Heralds
Hall at Swordsmere, where the Heralds preserve their banners and weaponry. These phantoms are actually equivalent to spectral harpists (a new type of undead detailed in this book) in all respects, except that they retain the hit points, sav-ing throws, and THAC0 values they had in life.
Swordsmere is a hidden place. It is an eerie subterranean lake, cloaked with many conceal-ing spells and magical traps, that lies beneath Mount Sklagarra, westernmost of the Troll Mountains (just east of due north from Esh-purta, in Amn). Magical gates in Athkatla, Mur-ann, Eshpurta, Baldurs Gate, and Beregost lead into and out of Swordsmere, helping to confuse many spies about its true location.
On an island in the center of the lake (whose black, still waters resemble a giant mirror and are said to be inhabited by fierce aquatic guardians of an unknown species) rises the Heralds Hall, a luxurious abode that stands atop armories and treasure vaults that keep safe many famous and infamous weapons and relics of past battle-glories from all over the Realms.
Swordsmere includes a vast spellchamber for the use of mages, a room whose ceiling is enchanted to resemble the starry night sky. It also includes a feasting hall two levels high, ringed at the upper level by a promenade
bal-cony opening into many guest-bedrooms, and lit by a sea of floating, flickering scented torches.
Heralds Holdfast: The abode of Old Night lies a days journey west of Silverymoon, in a dell north of the River Rauvin. It is an ancient, squat stone tower that stands hard against a cliff. It is so overgrown with mosses and cling-ing vines that it is likely to be found only by those who know just where to look for it.
The towers door does not lock, and it opens into the Chamber of Man, a huge, high room that fills the entire hollow interior of the tower.
Lit by a soft blue continual faerie fire, this room displays weapons and armor from every age of human civilization on the walls. The rafters are carved into the likenesses of heroes and hero-ines of the past, and from them hang the ban-ners and arms of forgotten kingdoms, interspersed with tapestries depicting impor-tant scenes from human history. Strong preserv-ative magic keeps the tower safe against the ravages of time and against almost all spells (which are snuffed out as soon as they are cast).
Other magic defends a wooden door in the Chamber that leads on into a subterranean com-plex carved out of the cliff. This magic also warns folk inside that intruders have come into the tower.
From the door, a corridor leads into the rock of the hill, lined with domed chambers, one devoted to each of the intelligent races (demi-human, humanoid, giantkind, and even races usually ig-nored, such as centaurs, satyrs, and korred). All resemble the Chamber of Man in contents.
The corridor ends in a formal dining room containing a huge, round, rune-covered table.
Old Nights rooms, a kitchen, and guest apart-ments open off this room to either side, but if one travels on in the direction the corridor ran, a door in the dining room opens into a vast library-the greatest library of the North, its high walls lined with countless volumes. Many tables, stacked high with more books, fill the center of this room; a magical glowing globe light hovers over a reading-desk in one corner, kept clear for the uses of the moment.
No one loves or trusts you enough to stand beside you in battle? What good has your life been, then?
Gothlinn Shalara of Baldurs Gate, speech to her kin, Year of the Bright Blade The Harpers have many friends and allies across Faerûn, but most (for their own safety, and in order for them to remain effective and useful as friends and allies) must keep their ser-vice and relationship to the Harpers secret.
Most are not heroes or adventurers in the way player characters are; they can be considered 1st-level fighters of varying hit points and skills.
Just about any shopkeeper, merchant, shep-herd, or caravan-master can be a Harper friend or ally. Their identities are not known to all Harpers, but a Harper can find them by consult-ing a Harper operatconsult-ing in an area, or by follow-ing the Harper runes and interpretfollow-ing cryptic notes left in some Harper refuges. These normal friendly folk are far too numerous to list here, but it is useful to briefly describe some powerful NPC adventurer-allies of the Harpers, for use in play when a DM wants to impress (or rescue) PCs. Full details of these folk are left to DMs to tailor for a given situation. All three of them wander the Realms, often appearing when unexpected (and a Harper needs timely aid).
The Simbul, Queen of Aglarond (a title she never insists on or uses herself), is secretly one of Mystras Chosen (see the History chapter of this guidebook). She is also one of the Seven Sisters (the Harpers Alustriel, Dove, Laeral, and Storm are some of the others). Like all of her kin, she is tall, slim, shapely, and possessed of long hair of silvery hue. The shortest of the sis-ters, the Simbul has the fiercest temper. She cares nothing for her appearance, often wearing ragged and torn old black robes. Her hair is always a tangled mess; when she is casting spells, it coils and stirs around her as if alive.
The Simbuls eyes flame visibly when she is angry.
The Simbul keeps her proper names secret, so
they are not set down here. Her magical power is among the mightiest of mortals in all Faerûn;
almost alone she has held the combined armies and sorcery of the land of Thay at bay for years, defending her realm of Aglarond. People fear her for her temper, her habit of flitting around the Realms in various bird and animal shapes (to appear when least expected or wanted), and for her awesome power. This has earned her the nickname The Witch-Queen.
The Simbul is proud and willful, yet she can be kind to those in need, particularly other women. As she grows older, and her romance with Elminster of Shadowdale continues, her alignment is shifting steadily toward good. She is not as apt to take bloody, reckless revenge as she once wasnow she may wait for the best occasion, or investigate to make sure shes not slaughtering innocent folk, where once shed storm in and bring city walls crashing down, heedless of the deaths she caused. The best advice, however, is still, Dont get her angry!
When roused, the Simbul can be a fury of angry magic; if PCs are terrified of her wrath, she is being handled properly! The Simbul works tire-lessly to defend her realm against the machina-tions of the Red Wizards of Thay. Her many shapeshifting disguises include the favorite forms of black raven and swift, though she may also be something as innocent as a watchful rock, or a wandering butterfly. Any bush, field mouse, stump, or stone can suddenly twist into the form of the angry, mocking, jestingly aiding, or swift and deadly Simbul! She has access to a small arsenal of powerful cached magical items hidden all over the Realms (in refugescaves and the like, often reachable only by someone who can fly-that have food, water, healing potions, clothes and mundane supplies, as well as power-ful magic) that she has gathered or created.
The Simbul has also devised many spells. She has cast a chain of contingency spells on herself that protect her in the same way Storm Silver-hands ring protects the Bard of Shadowdale (as described in The Senior Harpers chapter of this sourcebook).
The Simbul is a CN human female W30, with access to unlimited magical items and a full ros-ter of both strange and familiar spells. She is able to fell castle towers with her mighty spell blasts, but she rarely stays around to slay in leisurely spell-battle when she can disable an opponent with one or two earth-shaking spells, and then flit away, on about her business.
Tamper Tencoin is a wily adventurer of sar-donic humor and much experience, noted for his seemingly endless up-the-sleeves bag of tricks (he always has a teleport ring, Quaals feather token, or similar handy magical item at the ready, and he wears little wristpouches of sand or stinging powder to hurl into the eyes of opponents). A battered-looking, mustachioed, burly man with laughing eyes, Tamper is famous as a practical joker and as a man who on many occasions has patiently waited a decade or more to exact revenge on someone who stole from him or wounded him in battle. A some-time mercenary warrior (once a member of the
Flaming Fist) and caravan-master (most active on runs from Amn to Westgate or up the Sword Coast as far as Neverwinter), Tamper is a law-less, wayward member of the Harpers.
He is famous for having owned the magical blade Namarra (The Sword That Never Sleeps), given to him on a battlefield by his dying commander, Rivenhelm (it was later stolen from him by a Zhentarim agent who poi-soned him) and for helping the fledgling Knights of Myth Drannor defeat the Zhentarim mage Whisper. Tamper Tencoin is known to have trav-eled many planes in his career, and he is often accompanied by creatures strange to the Realms.
His companion at the time he fought alongside the Knights was the Nehwon ghoul Lacheera (an axe-wielding warrior-woman of a race from another plane), but more recently Tamper has been seen alone, strangling Zhentilar and Zhentarim in Daggerdale to aid Randal Morn.
Tamper is a CN human male F7/T14 (dual-classed; no longer active as a warrior). He
may have any magical items a DM desires, always carrying at least three about his person.
Beldara Laerune, The Wandering Minstrel of Melvaunt, is a fiery-tempered, raven-haired bard of beauty and a truly awe-inspiring voice.
Her warm, smoky voice is capable of both bird-like clear high notes and robust bass notes that shame many a male singer. Her long, far-flung travels are legendary. (She has sung from the Icewind Dale to Halruaa, and from Nimbral to Sossal.)
A tiny but feisty woman given to long drink-ing sessions and preferrdrink-ing the company of elves and dwarves to that of humans, Beldara is a poor cook but experienced at reading the countryside, finding water and her way, and avoiding bogs and predators.
She left her city when the Zhentarim rose to power in Zhentil Keep, preferring to wander less oppressive areas of the Realms seeking adventure, treasure, and inspiration for new songs. She found all three, and she is thought to bear on her person both valuable gems and
several useful items of magic, including some sort of magical harp. Beldara has not been seen of late, but a tale going around the taverns of Sembia holds that she went to Myth Drannor, found a surviving magical gate to other planes, and unhesitatingly stepped through it. Her fate is unknown.
Beldara is a NG human female B16. She stands just under five feet tall and weighs less than a hundred pounds. She has auburn hair and eyes of an unusual orange hue. She wears leather armor, but she always has several mag-nificent gowns in her large pack that she can change into when staying at an inn. Beldara also carries a Tallars harp and (in pouches on various parts of her personone is known to be in a hollow boot heel) at least three of the strange enchanted gems known as wandering stars. She also wears a Jkannyls wristlet (all three of these items are detailed in the Harper Magic chapter of this sourcebook) and a ring of feather falling (described in the DMG).
The title of this chapter refers in a general sense to places frequented by the Harpers, but there are some literal Harper haunts frequented by the phantoms of slain Harpers, or by Harpers who have become the special sort of undead known as spectral harpists (detailed at the end of this sourcebook).
Readers looking for detailed maps and floor-plans of Harper strongholds and bases are going to be disappointed: for obvious reasons, the Harpers arent thrilled at the thought of everyone knowing just where the armories, secret passages, treasure caches, and spell-chambers are in each and every Harper hold. Most of what appears here is collected from various Harper accounts, and may be out of date, mistaken, or in some cases deliberately misleading or wrong.