Abbor-Alz
The rocky, granitic hills that ring the Bright Desert are known to have gems and mineral wealth, as well as bandits, manticores, wyverns, and worse in abundance.
The rocky, granitic hills that ring the Bright Desert are known as the Abbor-Alz. In the west, the highlands are actually a small mountain range joining the Cairn Hills to their north. Enclaves of dwarves and gnomes remain in the west, many having shifted from a life of mining to the perfection of craftwork. The hills of southern Urnst are rich with gems and mineral wealth, as well as bandits, manticores, wyverns, and worse in abundance. The hillfolk of the region surrounding the Bright Desert repel all attempts to learn more about them; the rare giants and ogres here are barely more dangerous. It is known that the hillmen abhor Rary (see Bright Lands) and actively hunt down and slay his agents.
The rocky cliffs of the Abbor-Alz
Races and Groupings
General settlement patterns for gnomes and dwarves and their typical psychology are as noted for the Cairn Hills. There are virtually no halflings within the Abbor-Alz, except for a very few on the narrow range of fringe foothills east of the mountains. The large majority of small but profitable gnomish silver and gem mines are also located here. Such mines are small-scale, extended-family affairs, and there may be half a dozen small mines within a couple of miles, each run by one or two families within a single gnomish clan. There are perhaps 500 or so dwarves in the Abbor-Alz hills, and nearly 1,000 mountain dwarves to the north, mostly dwelling in Dumadan, described later. The dwarven communities are secluded and generally unfriendly. For the most part, the dwarves keep very much to themselves, but Dumadan has a character all of its own. The lives of these folk have been little affected by Greyhawk’s new rulership of the area. The gnomes still dispatch their goods for trade in the Urnst lands because they are much nearer than other markets, and Pontyrel is still the major trading market for ores and gems from the gnomes. The habits of Dumadan’s dwarves are discussed below. Many outlying dwarven and a few gnomish communities have never paid any fealty or taxes to Urnst in the past, and do not do so to Greyhawk now. As yet, Greyhawk has not made any determined efforts to get them to do so.Because much of the Abbor-Alz is unmapped, and because of the uncertainties of the Bright Desert, the Mountaineer Militia here are mostly engaged in surveillance rather than diplomacy or tax collection. The human dwellers in the Abbor-Alz, the hillsmen, are a tough and independent bunch. Banditry is significantly more common as a way of life, and those who engage in it often foray into western Urnst and the lower plains of Greyhawk. The nomadic hillsmen herd mountain goats and keep the llama-like beasts for dairy produce and meat, and a few keep trained hawks used for bringing back rabbits and even small rock lizards, the tails of which are baked with herbs and considered a great delicacy. The hillsmen owe allegiance to no one; there are some 2,500 of them pocketed areas, living in groups of 15-30, save for the semi-permanent camp at Marstefel.Fauna and Flora of the Abbor-Alz
Animal and plant life here are similar to that in the Cairn Hills, with some exceptions that become more pronounced the farther south one travels. Plant life becomes scarcer, hard-leaved alpines and small cacti become more prominent, and trees and shrubs become almost wholly absent. There are fewer pigs and deer here than in the Cairns, but more of the nimble mountain goats and a small, llama-like animal that is too small to be used as a pack beast. As noted, monsters are more plentiful than in the Cairns.
Type
Rolling Hills
Settlements and Sites
Canimarr's Towers
Castle Seh
Dumadan
Felnarix
Ghost Tower of Inverness
Griffons Nest
Karistyne Castle
Knife Edge Pass
Lord Ellis Outpost
Marstefel
Nil Keep
Ogremeet
Ogremound
Pits of Azak-Zil
Pontyrel
Star Cairns
Storm Keep
Vale of the Lamia
Zarak
Adventures
Ghost Tower of Inverness
Keep on the Borderlands
Return to the Keep on the Borderlands
Star Cairns
Location in the Flanaess
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