YulashOnce a large and important city of the Moonsea region, Yulash has become a battleground between the forces of Zhentil Keep and Hillsfar. For centuries the fortified city had been a neutral power, a fulcrum in the balance between Hillsfar and Zhentil Keep. About 70 years ago the leading noble families of Yulash became embroiled in a bitter feud over the lordship of the city, and civil war ensued.
Both Zhentil Keep and Hillsfar made good use of the city’s troubles to find powerful factions to support. The civil strife lasted for more than 40 years before the Yulashians agreed to abolish the lordship and share power in a Council. By that time, the people of the city had become strongly factionalized, and the Council rapidly became completely useless. Within a few years, it was clear that the city was falling into anarchy. In 1353 DR, Zhentarim agents arranged a series of incidents to incite the city to civil war again. In two short years, Yulash fell. Zhentil Keep declared Yulash to be a protectorate, much in the same manner that Cormyr claimed Tilverton and moved in forces to take over. Hillsfar responded by moving in troops to support the .freedom fighters. opposing the .foreign invasion.
In the years since, the Zhentish and Hillsfarian forces have leveled the city between them, and most natives of Yulash have either joined one of the two powers or fled to safer lands. Yulash is built on top of a great plateau of stone and earth that rises above the nearby lands. The city’s location commands the roads for miles about. The mount of Yulash is reputed to be riddled with secret caverns and passageways, and there are rumors of extra-dimensional accesses hidden in the deepest tunnels.
Not too long ago the god Moander rose from a hidden temple below the city and
oozed its way into the forests south of the city, carving a swath
through the elven woods of Cormanthor a hundred yards wide.