I was wondering, is there any “western film” region within the Forgotten Realms? I was looking for it for a brief campaign. What I'm looking for is a desert region with abandoned mines (crewed by kobolds or goblins, why not) and some frontier town ruled by sheriff like in Sergio Leone's movies.
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 1, 2021
1)
The hamlet of Khundul in Raurin, SW of Solon in the desert of Raurin (not far from the Raurinshield Mountains, so not all that far into the desert) should do. It’s located amid parched rolling foothills, with water still to be… 2)
…had in an aquifer, if you dig down forty feet or so. Which, as local legend correctly states, is fed by an underground lake under the Raurinshield Mountains.
That water is why the shallow-dug abandoned copper and iron mines…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 1, 2021
3)
…all around Khundul, especially abundant to the north, have a resident monster population; mainly jellies, oozes, and sand spiders—and roving goblin hunting bands can eke out a poor living.
The goblins, known as the Raadvurr… 4)
…after the title of their chieftan (an office, so many goblins have been Raadvurr, the current one being a fat goblin as big as a very large adult human, named Kahvuld) sometimes mount night raids on Khundul, which is one of…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 1, 2021
5)
…the few oases in Raurin, and for that reason used to be a stop on the caraven route west out of Solon when gem-caravans still made such journeys (across Raurin and through Midwinter Pass).
Khundul itself is a cluster of about… 6)
…seventy dugout homes and warehouses, about twenty still inhabited and a little more than twenty now abandoned and filled with blown-in sand. There are many local tales of buried and forgotten storage jars in the abandoned…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 1, 2021
7)
…homes that are full of gem cargoes, other goods, and even burials of dead caravan escort riders. According to some of the darker tales, some of these latter are “stalkers” (3e: ju-ju zombies) who now steal out of their jars… 8)
…by night to hunt goblins, but leave the Khundese alone except for anyone who disturbs “their” jar.
After a century of subsistence living, Khundul recently experienced an upsurge in trade: hunters and foragers from the town…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 1, 2021
9)
…discovered gems scattered around ash-buried Solon, presumably hurled into the air during the volcanic eruptions that ravaged it. Khundese traders soon found that the stone giants of Fuirjar were willing to trade slabs of… 10)
…polished marble in return for these.
Which meant that the greatest feature of Khundul could be exploited again, as the town finally had something to export that was worth the risk: an ancient magical gate (portal) in one of…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 1, 2021
11)
…the largest, oldest cavern-warehouses connects with a similar dugout warehouse in the hills just northwest of Zindalankh in Semphar, so marble could be sold to builders there.
Which in turn meant that as Zindalankh prospered, 12)
…so did Khundul, and its small population of hand-to-mouth inhabitants soon grew very busy sledging marble across Raurin, prospecting for gems, and trading in Zindalankh. Several tough-minded individuals among them rose to…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 1, 2021
13)
…prominence in the town, one of them bestowing upon himself the title of Zaor (equivalent to mayor, but it really means sheriff, as he ran and commanded a local law-and-order band of warriors) before being murdered by a rival. 14)
There were several Zaors in swift succession by such rough means, and the current Zaor is a Zindalar (man of Zindalankh), Ulthort Eroun, who is an aging, weathered, cynical corrupt man not entirely devoid of mercy or worldly…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 1, 2021
15)
…wisdom, and came to Khundul with his adventuring band, an all-female, ruthless half-dozen Zindalar who grew up poor but determined, in the alleys of that city. The band, known as the Eirbuyad (a local name for the shrike 16)
…bird), is now Khundul’s hard-bitten town watch, responsibly for keeping order, fighting goblins and other “invaders,” and collecting the Zaor’s taxes, which are a copper coin for all major transactions, building permits, … #Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 1, 2021
17)
…and wagon-parking in the town (comes with latrine and water-pump access).
Life in Khundul remains hard for its hundred-some townsfolk, but getting better, and the Zaor is popular for this reason: he spends most of the taxes… 18)
…he takes on buying smoked, salted and pickled foods in Zindalankh and importing this to Khundul, selling it at a copper above his cost—so everyone eats better in Khundul, these days, and even have full larders. Locals and…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 1, 2021
19)
…visitors are exploring the old mines, in hopes of finding fresh veins, but thus far have found more Underdark connections—and more prowling, hungry monsters—than mineral riches. Local legends say there are wizards’ tombs… 20)
…in the hills around Khundul, and if one of these is found and breached, riches and old fell magic—and dread monsters and worse curses—could well be unleashed.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 1, 2021