Harpender and the Gleaming Spires

The walled town of Harpender anchored a chain of small keeps known as the Gleaming Spires, protecting the margin of the Phostwood and preventing bandits from marauding into the open farmland beyond. Many of the folk from the town and keep fled into the Phostwood when the Fists advanced. In turn, they have been hunted and slain, escaped to the south, or remained as free Tenhas, ineffectually harassing the Fist garrison at Harpender. The keeps have been mostly pillaged and razed by the Fists, while Harpender itself is governed by an exceptionally cruel Fist leader charmed by a major cambion in Iuz's service. He ensures that he hears news from Fists still in the Phostwood, and also buys slaves here and ships them along the western road to Braycott and by ford or ferry to Camp Arnsten.

Harpender has not been vandalized as much as most Tenha towns, since the Stonefist men use Tenha slaves as loggers and fellers in the northern Phostwood. Harpender is quite a thriving wood-shipping town now. One point of particular note is that the graveyard of the town contains the family crypt of the esteemed Darlemm family of mages, hidden behind many secret doors and traps, beyond a false crypt. In accord with family custom, each of the 11 mages had his most powerful magical item buried with him. Of course, this tradition was only upheld if the mage in question enchanted the item himself. Some did not, so six items are present. These are still undetected and magical precautions prevent scrying or teleporting/plane shifting into the crypt. Thus, the surviving exiled members do not know if the magical items are still there and cannot magically access them. The nature of these items is left for the DM to determine.