There used to be a pass between the Vast and Impiltur, through the Earthspur Mountains. Now, there's not. Or maybe it just comes and goes.
The FRCS 3e and City Of Ravens Bluff mention persistent rumours of a hidden pass between Impiltur and the Vast's High Country, through the Earthspurs, but the way has never been mapped. Fair enough.
But The Bloodstone Lands places something called Haelimbrar's Watch in the pass between the Earthspurs and the Earthfasts. This is the domain of Lord Haelimbrar of Impiltur, and there's a pair of mining towns (Laviguer/Lariguer, Vordric-dun), a fortress (Tower Ithfell) and patrols along it. A sizeable gap and the rest appears on the maps, as well as in the Atlas and Trail Map. The Watch is usually marked with a dotted line.
But this gap is completely absent on the 3e FRCS map. The town of Laviguer appears, but mountains run right over the rest. Dragon 346's article, "Impiltur - The Forgotten Kingdom" (by George Krashos) includes Laviguer and Vordic Dun, and moves Tower Ithfell some distance to the east, but mountains still run over the pass.
So I wonder: what the hell happened to the pass? Sometimes it's unmapped and only-rumoured, other times it appears so big you could drive a tarrasque through, and Impiltur has several towns in the mouth.
I'm thinking that Haelimbrar's Watch is actually a long cliff (hence the dotted line), and the only "pass" is a relatively flat section that joins the two mountain ranges, while there's still no way through to the Vast. Or maybe there was a pass, recently discovered and settled by Impiltur, until an avalanche destroyed it and Ithfell Tower, which was rebuilt in the east. I'd go with the former, but I was wondering if anyone had any other ideas or evidence for this mysterious pass.
(The reason I ask is that I wanted to use Brikklext, the goblin community from Underdark and was wondering which side of the range they were extorting the human communities for water. They certainly wouldn't try that trick with the tough miners of Laviguer or the Impilturan army, so I need to use or place something on the Vast side.)
The map I did of the region was BY REQUEST of George Krashos, who wrote the Impiltur article in Dragon Magazine #346. The REASON why he requested it was because he felt the one that accompanied the article was wholly inadequate.
Mine should be considered THE most accurate to date, since Krash is THE foremost authority on pre-spellplague Impiltur.
The Impiltur Map
He did mention the fact that there may have been one or two 'corrections', and since this was brought-up, I will be sure to contact him and address those TODAY.
And there's a new river joining the River Vesper. Is that to justify it changing places in 3rd edition, by giving it two tributaries?
Curiouser and curiouser.
(By the way, it's Adhe Wood, not Abde Woods.)
In fact, everything on it should be canon, although the 'badlands' was adapted from the non-canon Northern Journey campaign journals hosted at Candlekeep (locations within those badlands are canon, though).
At the time I did that, I did not have the map that came with the article, just the article itself, and now that I have the mag I see a few things it has that mine is missing, so expect an update as soon as I here back from GK. ;)
Note: The Desertspire Hills were so named by me - Desertspire Mountains are mentioned in the 1e tome in regards to Impiltur, but no such mountains appear on any map, so I did the best I could to match the written lore.
Don't ask me where the desert is...
http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9740
The Centaur's Flight is non-canon, from the Northern Journey thing. (NJ seems to mix up a lot of stuff, like confusing the Turami and the Jhaamdathan migrations.) The old FRCS 2e map has a Centaur's Trail going to King's Reach, but all other sources call it (Centaur's Trail) The Long Reach instead. Neither goes to the area of the pass.
That's not a problem of course; it makes perfect sense if one were to use the pass in their campaign, or one can skip it if they don't.
Still doesn't explain why the pass comes and goes.
I think I'll leave it out: most sources clearly state there is no known trail through there, and no canon map has any road going there from the Vast side. It must be a cliff or half-closed gap between the mountain ranges or something.
Underdark doesn't say which side of the mountains the Brikklext goblins are operating (though the UD map and the Class Chronicles Psionics series imply Impiltur, but this doesn't matter too much). That the humans put up with it means there's a lack of ready aid from Impiltur or the Vast cities, implying the eastern Vast communities and an absent pass to me. Fortunately, the goblins bring regular trade and have stopped raiding, so it's a positive situation for them.
(There's a goblin in the party, so it won't be a slaughter.)EDIT: No, Brikklext is under the southern foothills of the Earthspurs, ie the Vast. The map makes it look more like the northern side though.
Also, that is a continental map - you will note that the smaller, more-precise regional maps that come in the regional books (SS and UE jump to mind) contain many, MANY pieces of geography and locales that the larger map does not. A great example of this is Lake Murthil in Thesk, found on the map of The Great Dale in UE, but NOT on the map of Thesk! Try to find that very large lake on the map of Faerûn (or any other, for that matter).
So take the campaign map for a very basic, imprecise piece of artwork that is lacking in details (such as the pass we are discussing).
'Centaur's Flight' is probably the original name, and perhaps referred to that way locally (because of the lore) 'Centaurs Trail' should be the official name, and only refers to that piece of road between King's Reach and the pass (it is a trail, NOT a road). The Long Road is an actual Road.
Reasoning:
Due to the preponderance of humanoids in the northern mountain chain, and the bandit citadel to the NW, Centaur's trail is a harsh and fordidding route to take into Impiltur, filled with hazards both natural and monsterous. Smart merchants avoid the route and travel the much safer (and saner) course along the coast.
The pass is primarilly a military installation, and is NOT 'open to the public' (although it will be opened for those in distress and need). That particualr section of the Vast is still considered 'wild country', and King's Reach is the last semi-civilized place in the eastern Vast. Centaur's trail (or Flight) is not known outside of The Vast, except to people living in and military stationed in the Impiltur Uplands. These are the reasons it does not appear on more wildly-distributed maps.
The pass is there if you want one to be there.
He stated that earlier maps (the Bloodstone one) showed a pass, but the 3e one did not, and even mentions the pass being just a rumor in the FRCS.
That is why he didn't mention it at all in his Impiltur article - its 'DMs choice'.
He also went on to say that I shouldn't bother with trying to correct the 3e maps anymore, now that 4e is here.
I may just go on hiatus for awhile....
Good point about the continental maps versus the regional maps. I should remember that more often. Lots of features get left out as they're just too small or fiddly to include, even on RW maps.
I think, now more than ever, complete accurate maps of FR are needed, since the 4e one is so sparse (and crappy). People using 4e need to know about all the roads and adventure sites and towns and cities that were left off. Plus, stacks of people are still using the classic FR setting anyway.
The stuff about bandits practically controlling that region both fits with what is in the 1eFRCS, and also gives a damn good reason why that pass is not used except for military patrols.
You also have the fallen Vastarr Orcs living in the Eathspurs (fighting a never-ending war with the earthfast Dwarfs), and the Drow mentined in CotH, all of which lends itself to a "no-man's land".
There's also some juicy tidbits that can be gleened in Crusade, concerning the local Elves, Dwarves, and even centaurs of this region.
I noticed that the river runing east out of the Glacier of the White Worm is named 'The White Wash' on your map, but is named 'Sidewinder River' in the FR Atlas.
Ah... okay. Its just that there is so little info about the eatern Vast (around that pass) that I though any little bit should be pointed out, however obscure and un-related.
The stuff about bandits practically controlling that region both fits with what is in the 1eFRCS, and also gives a damn good reason why that pass is not used except for military patrols.
You also have the fallen Vastarr Orcs living in the Eathspurs (fighting a never-ending war with the earthfast Dwarfs), and the Drow mentined in CotH, all of which lends itself to a "no-man's land".
There's also some juicy tidbits that can be gleened in Crusade, concerning the local Elves, Dwarves, and even centaurs of this region.
There's also the unknown Hidden People that dwell in the High Country of the eastern Vast, who "tolerate few buildings". And there's the reclusive mages in their towers that turn back a few orc hordes. Between all this, it's very much an unexplored frontier, which really suits the Vast's colonial themes.
Another novel I should read. Though the Vast went surprisingly unmolested throughout the editions (excluding Tantras and Ravens Bluff of course).
One of the best maps of the region is probably this one from City Of Ravens Bluff (the back of the book counts as an excellent mini-sourcebook on the Vast, indeed, its only complete coverage):
"The Vast" is the name given to the relatively sparsely settled, rolling farmlands that lie along the eastern shore of the Dragon Reach. On the north and east, this region is bounded by the Dragonspike Mountains (except for a gap where the High Country thrusts east towards Impiltur). To the south, the Vast is generally accepted as extending through the Earthfast Mountains to the lands that shelter under the direct influence of the coastal cities of Procampur and Tsurlagol. The origin of the term "the Vast" has been lost with the passage of much time, but most sages believe that it derives from "Vastar" or something similar, a name in use when orcs ruled all these lands, some two thousand winters ago.
Accent, mine. Obviously there was a pass, making it more then just a rumour, which that monster article also confirmed (good find, BTW).
Mark,
I noticed that the river runing east out of the Glacier of the White Worm is named 'The White Wash' on your map, but is named 'Sidewinder River' in the FR Atlas.
I'll have to figure-out where I got that name from - I don't recall making it up.
Its been so long since I did that that I also don't recall compromising as BCM said concerning that other river, but that does seem to be the right of it (I remember doing similar things esewhere, when official maps disagreed).
I will be addressing these things soon, one I check the source-maps again.
Edit: I seem to have stumbled upon some juicy stuff HERE; there are links there to other vast articles, and it all appears to be offical (since it is part of the RPGA).
The only setting that was ever fully detailed that left out room for Homebrew material was Eberron.
Which is why I can't bring myself to run it, even though I like it. I need a setting that gives me tons of freedom to create whatever I want... ya know... like FR always was.