Notes here on the lore and history of the Nentir Vale.
I am generally following the lore from published materials but if I house rule anything, I'll note it here.
This site is generally considered the best collection of Nentir Vale lore out there.
Please don't post questions about lore here. Ask in the OOC thread.
If I share some lore with you and you want to save it, feel free to post that sort of thing here.
Background on the Nentir Vale
Re: Background on the Nentir Vale
Gods of the Nentir Vale and of Argosa
We are using the gods from Argosa but reskinning them so they have the names of the NV gods.
Argona the Starmaiden (Health, Wealth, Happiness, Hope) is Avandra
Baal, Lord of Crows (Decay, Suffering, Disease, and Death) is Zehir
Graxus, the Iron God (War, Courage, Struggle, and Glory) is Kord
Shennog (Night, Darkness, Mystery, Deceit, and Madness) is Sehanine
Soliri, the World Tree (Sun, Weather, Nature, and Creation) is Pelor
Wodon (Knowledge, Art, Wisdom, and Justice) is Erathis
I will create other gods upon request.
We are using the gods from Argosa but reskinning them so they have the names of the NV gods.
Argona the Starmaiden (Health, Wealth, Happiness, Hope) is Avandra
Baal, Lord of Crows (Decay, Suffering, Disease, and Death) is Zehir
Graxus, the Iron God (War, Courage, Struggle, and Glory) is Kord
Shennog (Night, Darkness, Mystery, Deceit, and Madness) is Sehanine
Soliri, the World Tree (Sun, Weather, Nature, and Creation) is Pelor
Wodon (Knowledge, Art, Wisdom, and Justice) is Erathis
I will create other gods upon request.
Re: Background on the Nentir Vale
Current Status of the Nentir Vale
The setting is very similar to how it's described in the 4e DMG, except instead of "Points of Light", it will be more like "Power Centers of Light".
You're safe from most threats within a day's ride from:
I'm going to use this rule of thumb for population: for every one merchant or artisan living in a town, there are nine farmers and ranchers in the "suburbs" supporting them.
I don't know why 4e gets super-specific about the population of some towns (In H1, Keep on the Shadowfell, Winterhaven has exactly 977 residents) while others are mostly not discussed at all (In the 4e DMG, Hammerfast is described as the "largest and wealthiest town in the region". In the Hammerfast supplement, it's been downgraded to the "largest and richest settlement in the eastern portion of the Nentir Vale". In the 4e Dungeon Master's Kit, it has a population of 12,000). So I'm going to use my own round numbers just to give players a feel for what civilization looks like and where they'd need to go to buy items or get services.
Fallcrest is a large town or small city, depending on your point of view. This means a total population of around 10,000, 9,000 of which are farmers and ranchers.
Winterhaven is a small town. This means a total population of 5,000, 4,500 of which are farmers or miners.
Hammerfast is a small city but slightly bigger than Fallcrest. A total population around 12,000, 10,800 or so of which are miners, with a few farmers mixed in.
Harkenwold is a collection of villages that total 1,500 or so people. The largest village, Harken, has perhaps 300 people in total.
The setting is very similar to how it's described in the 4e DMG, except instead of "Points of Light", it will be more like "Power Centers of Light".
You're safe from most threats within a day's ride from:
- Hammerfall in the east
- Harkenwold in the southeast
- Fallcrest in the center
- Winterhaven in the west
I'm going to use this rule of thumb for population: for every one merchant or artisan living in a town, there are nine farmers and ranchers in the "suburbs" supporting them.
I don't know why 4e gets super-specific about the population of some towns (In H1, Keep on the Shadowfell, Winterhaven has exactly 977 residents) while others are mostly not discussed at all (In the 4e DMG, Hammerfast is described as the "largest and wealthiest town in the region". In the Hammerfast supplement, it's been downgraded to the "largest and richest settlement in the eastern portion of the Nentir Vale". In the 4e Dungeon Master's Kit, it has a population of 12,000). So I'm going to use my own round numbers just to give players a feel for what civilization looks like and where they'd need to go to buy items or get services.
Fallcrest is a large town or small city, depending on your point of view. This means a total population of around 10,000, 9,000 of which are farmers and ranchers.
Winterhaven is a small town. This means a total population of 5,000, 4,500 of which are farmers or miners.
Hammerfast is a small city but slightly bigger than Fallcrest. A total population around 12,000, 10,800 or so of which are miners, with a few farmers mixed in.
Harkenwold is a collection of villages that total 1,500 or so people. The largest village, Harken, has perhaps 300 people in total.
Re: Background on the Nentir Vale
Languages of the Nentir Vale
There are 10 languages.
Common (Humans, halflings, tieflings)
Deep Speech (Mind flayers, githyanki, kuo-toas)
Draconic (Dragons, dragonborn, kobolds)
Dwarven (Dwarves, galeb duhrs)
Elven (Elves, eladrin, fomorians)
Giant (Giants, orcs, ogres)
Goblin (Goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears)
Primordial (Efreets, archons, elementals)
Supernal (Angels, devils, gods)
Abyssal (Demons, gnolls, sahuagin)
Note that there will be situations where a PC needs to know more than Common to speak with other inhabitants of the Vale. Monsters that speak only Giant or Goblin will probably not speak Common, for example. Elves who don't trade with Humans will probably not speak Common.
There are 10 languages.
Common (Humans, halflings, tieflings)
Deep Speech (Mind flayers, githyanki, kuo-toas)
Draconic (Dragons, dragonborn, kobolds)
Dwarven (Dwarves, galeb duhrs)
Elven (Elves, eladrin, fomorians)
Giant (Giants, orcs, ogres)
Goblin (Goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears)
Primordial (Efreets, archons, elementals)
Supernal (Angels, devils, gods)
Abyssal (Demons, gnolls, sahuagin)
Note that there will be situations where a PC needs to know more than Common to speak with other inhabitants of the Vale. Monsters that speak only Giant or Goblin will probably not speak Common, for example. Elves who don't trade with Humans will probably not speak Common.
Re: Background on the Nentir Vale
Factions of the Nentir Vale
Assume your PC either knows this from growing up there, or learned it through gossip. These are the major factions; there will be other, smaller ones you will discover as you play.
Cairngorm Peaks
Vestapalk the Green Dragon
Fallcrest
Lord Warden Markelhay is the ruler of the town
High Priest Dirina Mornbrow is the head of the Temple of Erathis, the most powerful faith in Fallcrest and one of the largest landowners
Hammerfast
The three guilds of Trade, Lore, and Craft
Harken Forest
Daggerburg goblins
Woodsinger clan elves
Winterbole Forest
Bitterstrike the White Dragon
Frost Witches
Tigerclaw barbarians
Witchlight Fens
Shadowmire the Black Dragon
Assume your PC either knows this from growing up there, or learned it through gossip. These are the major factions; there will be other, smaller ones you will discover as you play.
Cairngorm Peaks
Vestapalk the Green Dragon
Fallcrest
Lord Warden Markelhay is the ruler of the town
High Priest Dirina Mornbrow is the head of the Temple of Erathis, the most powerful faith in Fallcrest and one of the largest landowners
Hammerfast
The three guilds of Trade, Lore, and Craft
Harken Forest
Daggerburg goblins
Woodsinger clan elves
Winterbole Forest
Bitterstrike the White Dragon
Frost Witches
Tigerclaw barbarians
Witchlight Fens
Shadowmire the Black Dragon
Re: Background on the Nentir Vale
Religion
Everyone believes in the gods. There are no atheists in this world. The only question is how much you believe the gods interact with mortals on this plane.
Most folks tend to worship the entire pantheon, and propitiate them with prayers and occasional donations of valuables. Some feel a closer connection with a single god, and favor them over all others in the hopes of gaining more attention in return.
Because the greater gods tend to have more respect from the general populace, their priests have more temporal power in this world. Very similar to the power and influence the Catholic Church had in the Middle Ages.
There are lots of cultists and heretics as well. The further away you get from the Temple of Erathis, the less control the priesthood has over the locals.
Everyone believes in the gods. There are no atheists in this world. The only question is how much you believe the gods interact with mortals on this plane.
Most folks tend to worship the entire pantheon, and propitiate them with prayers and occasional donations of valuables. Some feel a closer connection with a single god, and favor them over all others in the hopes of gaining more attention in return.
Because the greater gods tend to have more respect from the general populace, their priests have more temporal power in this world. Very similar to the power and influence the Catholic Church had in the Middle Ages.
There are lots of cultists and heretics as well. The further away you get from the Temple of Erathis, the less control the priesthood has over the locals.
Re: Background on the Nentir Vale
Calendar
There are a couple of fan-created dating systems for the Vale. I like the one that counts from the founding of the Nerathi Empire. So we'll call this year 616 NF (Nerath Founding). thirdkingdom also uses a simple system for his games that swaps in generic names for days and months which I'll continue to steal. We'll call it mid-spring so it's Nineteenthday, Fifthmonth, 616 NF.
There are a couple of fan-created dating systems for the Vale. I like the one that counts from the founding of the Nerathi Empire. So we'll call this year 616 NF (Nerath Founding). thirdkingdom also uses a simple system for his games that swaps in generic names for days and months which I'll continue to steal. We'll call it mid-spring so it's Nineteenthday, Fifthmonth, 616 NF.