Background
While exploring the old barrows of the Trollhaunt, the troll-chieftain Skalmad discovered Moran’s Eye, a potent fomorian relic wielded by the first king of ancient Vardar. Lost for untold years, the Eye quickly corrupted the avaricious Skalmad, inspiring him to tear out his own eye in order to claim the relic’s full power. As it directed Skalmad’s ambition, the Eye showed him a portal to the Feywild in the heart of an ancient troll ruin known as the Great Warren. Within the Feywild, the Eye led the would-be troll king to a site of great power and
even greater evil—the Stone Cauldron. There, Skalmad’s plans for domination were born.
With the power of the Eye, Skalmad set about bringing the monsters of the Trollhaunt under his dominion. He saw himself as the founder of a new Vardar, establishing
a stronghold in the Great Warren. Under Skalmad’s leadership, the trolls of the Trollhaunt began to terrorize neighboring lands with a fury not seen in generations. Even as the depredations of the trolls grew worse, hope arrived along the frontier in the person of Etheran of Therund. With a band of heroic companions, Etheran was returning home after having defeated the operatives of a deadly cult in a far-off land.
With troll warbands on the move, Etheran delayed his return home and established a base in the town of Moonstair, west of the Trollhaunt. He and his companions made three raids into the swamps, routing Skalmad’s forces before setting out on a fourth sortie to face the troll king. Three days later, a band of troll warriors appeared at the town gates, their leader issuing a challenge as he tossed Etheran’s head over the wall. “Your hero is dead, puny humans! Skalmad the Great killed him. Soon Skalmad,King of Vardar, will claim Moonstair and lands beyond, and all humans will die!” As the son of the baron of Therund, Etheran carried
the heirloom sword of the barony, a magic blade known as Sunwrath. The sword is now rumored to be a trophy of the troll king Skalmad. For the first time in centuries, the trolls are gathering for war, and Therund stands in their sights.
Built among the ruins of the troll kingdom of Vardar, the town of Moonstair is a trade outpost that lies at the confluence of two rivers. The town’s most renowned feature is the Moon Door, a portal to the Feywild that opens when the moon is full and the sky is clear.
Geography: The peninsula on which Moonstair was built starts as rocky hills jutting up from the river at its westernmost tip. The western high ground is heavily settled, with the population thinning to the east as the ground slopes away. There, the town gives way to fertile farmland that borders the swamps of the Trollhaunt.
Population: Just over a thousand people live in and
around Moonstair. With the river serving as a natural protective barrier on two sides, the town has grown up rather than out, and multistory buildings are common. Situated as it is on a major trade route, Moonstair’s population fluctuates (sometimes drastically) depending on the number
of travelers passing through.
Government: Moonstair is led by a half-elf mayor,
Kelana Dhoram (see page xx). Her primary focus is in
maintaining the town’s prosperity through trade, and her
leadership is more about commerce than security. As a
result, the town watch is small and poorly equipped. The
monsters to the east have long been quiet, but Moonstair is
ill equipped to deal with the new power in the Trollhaunt.