Scardale

Scardale takes its name from a steep-sided gorge known locally as the Scar that runs from the Feather Falls to the Dragon Reach. The legends of the original goblin raiders stated that in the battle between the orc god Gruumsh and the elven deity Corellon Larethian, one of the elven god’s many blows went astray and carved this wide gouge in the (then) forest. The town of Scardale lies at the mouth of the River Ashaba, which most sages believe carved the gorge.

Scardale has almost recovered from the rule of a young, aggressive lord, Lashan Aumersair. The former lord, Lashan’s father Uluf, passed on the title of lordship to his headstrong son, and Lashan wanted to build an empire from his small holdings. He gathered troops, wealth, and artisans to build Scardale into a great power and eventually take over all of the southern Dales. While engaged in this massive buildup, Lashan was less than diplomatic in hiding his aims.

Under Lashan’s guidance, the initial campaigns against his neighbors resulted in the overrunning of Harrowdale, Featherdale, and Battledale. His very success proved to be his downfall, however, in that he had figured that the Cormyreans and Sembians would welcome a unified power to contend with the Moonsea cities, and that the Moonsea cities could not stop their squabbling long enough to mount a plausible attack.

Yet Lashan’s stunning campaign was so swift and successful that Cormyr, Sembia, Zhentil Keep, and Hillsfar all rose in arms against him along with the other Dales he attacked. After overwhelming the central Dales, Lashan was turned back from Mistledale and Deepingdale by the combined might of all the enemies he had made. His empire collapsed overnight. Lashan vanished in the confusion, as his mercenary troops were cut up by the advancing armies. Sembia briefly occupied Scardale itself, with the intention of adding the Dale to itself, but it was threatened and cajoled into withdrawal by the other kingdoms. All of the Dales Lashan briefly conquered are now independent again.

Scardale is currently under a provisional independent government, with a local lord answerable to a Parliament of Advisors. Hillsfar, Zhentil Keep, Cormyr, Sembia, and each of the Dales have a seat with this advisory body, and the advisors regularly send word back to their respective nations. The current lord is Myriam Beechwood, a complaining, angry former priest of Waukeen who uses his time in the Dales Council to point out this outrage and that atrocity committed by the occupying forces, and demanding that Scardale be returned to self-rule as soon as possible.

In addition, each of the occupying forces is allowed to maintain a garrison in the city. Each garrison cannot, by agreement, number more than 12 persons, though the specific composition of the garrison is left to each nation or Dale. Most of the various Dales send second sons of merchant families and local guard captains, but Sembia and Cormyr’s garrisons feature a large percentage of experienced warriors. The Zhentil Keep garrison is dominated by agents of the Zhentarim, looking to turn Scardale into another fief of the Black Network.

This situation of garrisons and advisors is (in theory) to remain until Scardale resumes a normal form of government. This whole business is complicated by the fact that Scardale has always been ruled by a hereditary lord, and Lashan, if he still lives, is the rightful leader and cannot be usurped. Lashan (or proof of his death) has been sought in many areas, with contradictory results.

In the meantime, the various garrison factions test each other’s nerve and strength of arm in conflicts that rate above tavern brawls and below battles, and various agents of the nations and communities in occupation play a huge game of intrigue and deception, even among supposedly stalwart allies. Far from bringing peace to Scardale, the combined forces have made the Dale a more dangerous place.

The native inhabitants are as a result extremely secretive and distrustful of strangers, biding their time until they can retake what is theirs. Scardale’s temples, with the exception of the temple to Tymora, were destroyed in the war. The Lap of Luck is presently under the auspices of Gelli Parabuck (CG halfm P8), a cheerful and devout halfling. Due to the continuing presence of soldiers, the town also has a shrine to Tempus.

The City of Scardale <Map of City>

At one time the largest and most important town of the Dalelands, Scardale today has, less than one-half its pre-war population. Hundreds of natives were slain in the battles that ended Lashan?s career, and hundreds more have fled into the countryside to avoid the occupation.