Hartsvale

Hartsvale is far in the windswept north, a fertile mountain valley where the Ice Spire Mountains abut the High Ice. The Clear Whirl River flows south into the valley out of the lands of the Endless Blizzard, feeding the rich soil tucked between the northern and southern arms of the Ice Spires. The river splits as it runs through the hilly lands, eventually draining into a series of lakes along the southern edge of the vale. Two small woods also grow in the vale, one along its northern edge, between the vale proper and the northern Ice Spires, and another fed by the lakes on its southern edge. Originally the home of giant clans and ragtag barbarian tribespeople related to the Uthgardt, Hartsvale was conquered by the hero Hartkiller. He was a giant who had ventured into the lands to the south and learned of their ways. When he came to Hartsvale, he rallied the human tribes, uniting them into a fighting force capable of defeating the giants who tyrannized them, and they threw the giants down, claiming the vale between the mountains for their descendants.
Giants aplenty still dwell in Hartsvale's mountains and forested hills, but they've reached an accord with the humans of the vale. So far as I know, they live peaceably distant from the human lands, and taboos exist among both humans and giants that keep them separate. At the boundaries of lands where the smallfolk may not go stand titanic menhirs, believed to have been erected by stone giants.
The folk of Hartsvale are ruled by House Hartwick, a line of royals supposedly descended from Hartkiller. Though human, House Hartwick's scions are all very tall and strong, most standing seven feet in height. The king of Hartsvale sits on the Alabaster Throne in Castle Hartwick, and the many earls of the vale's duchies owe their fealty to him.
Peace has reigned for many years in Hartsvale. Grauman, called the Good King by his people, rules from the Alabaster Throne, though his years are advanced. His eldest son and heir, Taumarik, is a young ranger who has recently returned from a three-year journey to explore the North. He came back with a wife, the sorceress Ylienna of Silverymoon, and has begun to take on more of his father's onerous responsibilities. There is some strife in the court, however, as the earls don't trust his "out-vale witch-bride" - a phrase that infuriates Taumarik, but seems to gently amuse Ylienna.
The vale is well guarded, as all jewels should be - in this case by the perils of the mountains and giantsteads that surround it. Nonetheless, a certain strong breed of merchant travels the narrow mountain passes leading into Hartsvale. The dwarves of Citadel Adbar jestingly refer to these people as "goats of coin," for they will cling like such animals to the most precarious of mountain ridges while seeking the opportunities that wait beyond. Those who travel with these goats of coin are often impressed by the skill of these folk, who brave crumbling paths, avalanche-ridden passes, terrible howling blizzards, and monsters of all sorts to reach Hartsvale and get safely out of the vale again.
It isn't just the high mountains around the vale that hold dangers. Though the valley has scattered settlements, all of Hartsvale can hardly be considered civilized. Travellers find these lands to be still frontier-like, similar to some of the wilder portions of the North, particularly in the days before the founding of Luruar and the resettlement of Mithral Hall. Fell beasts aplenty make their lairs in out-of-the-way places across the valley, and raiding bands of ogres often come down out of the mountains.
The folk of Hartsvale are also on good terms with the numerous dragonborn clans of the High Ice. While trade between these outcasts of Abeir and the people of the vale is infrequent, accords between the communities acknowledge an alliance of sorts between them for their mutual protection and continued existence. The dragonborn are a rugged group, and trade with Hartsvale is their only frequent contact with the world outside the mountains they call home.

Castle Hartwick and Stagwick

Between two branches of the Clear Whirl River lies a great island on which Hartkiller built his castle. Stagwick, on the east bank of the river, is a small community of folk who work as farmers, fishers, herders, and artisans. These folk do a brisk business, as most outland merchants choose not to journey beyond Stagwick and instead sell their wares to the Hartsvale merchants. Perhaps a third of the merchants who journey to Hartsvale choose to undertake the trip out to the fiefdoms of the earls, who pay more to encourage this behaviour.

The Ogres

For reasons none can fathom, Harstvale and its surrounding mountain ranges host many tribes of ogres - not mere family groups, but whole tribes of them. Whereas elsewhere ogres seem to live like bears, near Hartsvale they act more like orcs. Thankfully the brutes are still too stupid for such complex tasks as working metal, but according to local tales their culture is surprisingly sophisticated. Different tribes worship different gods, Vaprak being the most common, and these differences in religion apparently set the tribes against each other. As traders tell it, both the giants and the people of Hartsvale hate the ogres, a fact for which many are grateful. If one or more giants decided to organize the ogres, nobody knows if any in Hartsvale could stand against them.

Maps

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  Hartsvale

  The frigid kingdom of Hartsvale, nestled amidst the Ice Spires near to the northernmost part of Anauroch, the High Ice

Type

Valley

Location under

The High Ice