#cormanthor

Last year was a bad year for Mistledale. Early in the year, a flight of dragons came from the north, wreaking destruction on everything they encountered.  No sooner had the wyrms retreated than Lord Lashan of Scardale invaded his neighbors, hoping to seize control and declare himself king. Lashan’s mercenary forces were met in Mistledale by a coalition army and thrown back, but the fighting left many homeless and trampled the harvest.

Traditionally, the dale would be able to rely on its position astride the Moonsea Road at the front door of the Cormanthor forest as a way to rebuild. This location has long made Mistledale a meeting place for trade rather than just a subsistence farming community.

But ill fortune comes in threes, and the elves’ Retreat was the third stroke for Mistledale, stealing away this hope. 

Since the raising of the Standing Stone, 1,357 years ago, the people of the Dalelands and the elves of Cormanthor have lived in neighborly peace. For a time, humanity was welcomed into the forest, and the great city of Myth Drannor served as a meeting place for all peoples. When Myth Drannor fell - through treachery and black magic, they say - the elves closed Cormanthor to the outside world. For centuries, most of the forest has been blanketed in a magical warding, or mythal, that protected it against intrusion; humans have been permitted only on a few roads and trails through the region, or at the very edges of the wood.

Last year, the mythal disappeared, and it became clear that the elves had abandoned Cormanthor – disappeared West across the ocean to join their brethren at Evermeet. For the first time in many generations, the forest lies open to humanity, and if legends are to be believed, ancient secrets and fantastic treasure can be found within.

And you are determined to claim some share of that treasure as your own.