Skull Gorge was a long gorge that ran along the northernmost stretch of the River Reaching in the Western Heartlands. Most official occupations of this area were prior to 1350 CE. It currently is expected to be only a waystation or temperary shelter for travelers, orcs or goblinkind.
Geography
The gorge was situated along the River Reaching, just downstream of the Misty Stair waterfalls. The Sunset Mountains lay to the southeast, with the Battle of Bones situated to the north, the Hill of Lost Souls to the northwest, and Darkhold due south. The Well of Dragons lay just east of Skull Gorge. It was sometimes said to be part of the southwestern tip of the Anauroch desert.
Skull Gorge was very steep and narrow, appearing almost like a cut in the surrounding terrain, with its walls running almost to the edge of the River Reaching. The gorge's pale whitestone walls were pockmarked with caverns.
Back during the Dawn Age (also known as the Age of Dawn, the Time of Dragons, or the Time of Giants, was a period lasting from −30,000 DR to −24,000 DR), the Skull Gorge made up part of the giant kingdom of Grunfesting.
In -1145 DR, a group of Netherese established a town called Holloway in one of the gorge's caverns to act as a base of operations for their explorations of the giant kingdom's ruins. Its founders hoped to discover some ancient form of magic comparable to the Nether Scrolls, but ultimately they found nothing. Becoming isolated from the rest of Netheril, the town was gradually taken over by the church of Jergal.
Following the fall of Netheril in -339 DR, Holloway's population started to dwindle until becoming fully abandoned by -270 DR.
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