| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Afetbinttuzani |
Posted - 19 Feb 2009 : 06:25:23
In the novel Cloak of Shadows Elminster and company are traveling in a forested area of Daggerdale on a trail that was "once an important trade road" (TSR: 1995, p. 40). Having left early in the morning from Shadowdale on horseback, the sun is setting when Elminster announces that they will spend the night in the ruins of "Irythkeep". The narrator then says that "Irythkeep may once have been grand, but the winds and winters of passing time had not been kind to it since a besieging orc band had battered its wall from without, and the Zhentarim mage with them had summoned and let loose a fire-spitting hydra within" (p. 41)
Anyone have any idea where this might be located? |
| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| ErskineF |
Posted - 20 Feb 2009 : 05:36:48
quote:
Originally posted by Afetbinttuzani
Well, here it is, direct from Sir Edward of the Greenwood, creator of Irythkeep; posted today in the Chamber of Sages:
Awesome. Thanks for getting that sorted, and thanks to Ed and THO for sorting it.
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| Afetbinttuzani |
Posted - 20 Feb 2009 : 04:45:24
Well, here it is, direct from Sir Edward of the Greenwood, creator of Irythkeep; posted today in the Chamber of Sages:
quote:
Hi, fellow scribes of the Keep. I bring you once more the words of Ed, this time in swift response to Afet bint Tuzaní:
Your reasoning about the location of Irythkeep is correct; it is only a very short ride north along the Dagger Ride (better known as the Tethyamar Trail) from the North Ride, on the east side of the Trail (and increasingly overgrown). About a third of a mile (“just over one hill” from the North Ride), no more.
Centuries ago, it was built by a trading company headed by Garskran Iryth, a trader from Turmish who established a small hold here (a keep surrounded by a subsistence farm) from which he could trade with the dwarves of Tethyamar (cloth, leather, clothing and leather goods, drinkables, and medicines brought from the Vilhon, in return for smelted metal and forged tools). Here he intended to make his home, far from enemies back home and the taxes and laws of rulers he disagreed with.
Iryth’s small band of warriors held the keep well enough, but took heavy losses trying to get caravans to and from the keep, until they were just too few to defend the keep in a harsh winter. In the end, Iryth and his folk perished to the last hungry, chilled, and terrified goodwife fighting orc raiders and hungry monsters, notably persistent packs of wolves.
The keep then passed through a succession of owners, mainly knights who set themselves up as local lordlings. Most of them perished in monster raids or at the hands of underlings who turned on them, with the keep and its attached stables standing empty until the next would-be lord came along. Few of them did much to the keep beyond replacing its roofs and doors when necessary, and it started to crumble.
It was little more than a ramshackle barracks-fortress guarding the southern approach to Daggerdale by the time Zhentarim started backing orc bands in an all-out attempt to conquer Daggerdale and scour out all inhabitants who wouldn’t bow to them - - and one such band blasted the keep to get at a small band of dale defenders taking refuge in it.
So saith Ed. Who has just sent me another, longer offering of Realmslore, I see. Coming riiiight up, scribes!
P.S. When Ed mentions your "reasoning," Afetbinttuzaní, he means what you posted in your thread querying Irythkeep's location, elsewhere at the Keep (I sent it along to him).
love to all,
THO
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| Afetbinttuzani |
Posted - 20 Feb 2009 : 04:34:53
quote:
Originally posted by ErskineF
quote:
Originally posted by Afetbinttuzani
Thanks for that tip. Erskine should know whether Irythkeep's placement on the Tethyamar trail was approximated or based on solid information.
Unfortunately, I'm no help at all. That was done by Mark Oliva and his project group. I never thought to ask them where it came from.
I haven't read the novel either. From what you described in your first post, I would have placed it north of Shadowdale on the road that follows the Ashaba, perhaps where it is joined by the Dagger River. Is there additional information in the text that rules out that route?
I'm interested to see what Ed has to say.
I´ve been looking for clues as I read. As they are leaving Shadowdale, they pass Mourngrym´s guards and Storm leads them a little way further to "an open place where trails meet" and someone comments that they "appear to be heading into Daggerdale"(p. 33). I doubt they were traveling north from Shadowdale along the Ashaba, because the narrator comments about the land they were passing through that, "rent by war for ten summers or more, Daggerdale was fast vanishing as the woodlands spread swiftly across untilled fields and deserted steads alike"(p. 40). This sounds more like the Tethymar Trail. Later, there is mention of someone moving east into the Daggerdale and seeing a stream that crosses overgrown fields. Then this person looks southeast to where Irythkeep is "not far from here, just beyond yonder hills" (p. 63).
It´s all pretty ambiguous. It doesn´t really matter much, in the grand scheme of things, but I like to visualize what I´m reading in terms of what I know of the Geography. |
| ErskineF |
Posted - 20 Feb 2009 : 03:07:12
quote:
Originally posted by Afetbinttuzani
Thanks for that tip. Erskine should know whether Irythkeep's placement on the Tethyamar trail was approximated or based on solid information.
Unfortunately, I'm no help at all. That was done by Mark Oliva and his project group. I never thought to ask them where it came from.
I haven't read the novel either. From what you described in your first post, I would have placed it north of Shadowdale on the road that follows the Ashaba, perhaps where it is joined by the Dagger River. Is there additional information in the text that rules out that route?
I'm interested to see what Ed has to say.
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| Afetbinttuzani |
Posted - 19 Feb 2009 : 19:40:28
quote:
Originally posted by rjfras
[T]here is a map under the Daggerdale Project that shows Irythkeep on the trail that used to be a trade road and it's close to Shadowdale, not sure if they had other info on exactly where to place it or they were approximating, but you can go to the page here http://forgotten-realms.wandering-dwarf.com//daggerdale/daggerdale.php and click the map to see it.
Thanks for that tip. Erskine should know whether Irythkeep's placement on the Tethyamar trail was approximated or based on solid information. Given that in 2E the average distance one can travel on horseback is about 30 miles, and given the fact that Elminster and company got there from Shadowdale after a full day's ride, the placement of Irythkeep only makes sense if they rode straight west from Shadowdale, traveling unhindered through the forest. If they stuck to the roads (Taking the North Ride east, then north along the Tethyamar Trail), as the novel indicates, the distance to Irythkeep, as it is placed on the Daggerdale Project map, would be around 60 km, or two days ride. I would place it farther south, both because of the distance traveled in the novel and because it makes more sense to me to have it close to the intersection of two trade routes. |
| rjfras |
Posted - 19 Feb 2009 : 18:38:35
I don't get anything in the search on the FRIA for Irythkeep.
However, there is a map under the Daggerdale Project that shows Irythkeep on the trail that used to be a trade road and it's close to Shadowdale, not sure if they had other info on exactly where to place it or they were approximating, but you can go to the page here http://forgotten-realms.wandering-dwarf.com//daggerdale/daggerdale.php and click the map to see it. |
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