Black Hillz

Steel Realms

The Black Hillz are the lands where the Curtain of Night constantly moves back and forth (hence the term ‘black hills’ for the moving evil shadow) depending on the fortunes of the Orrish in their fortress of Tallow’s Deep. The High King’s rangers have a constant presence here, as do the twin towers (a misnomer really, they are each a full walled keep) that sit at the end of the valley about 800 feet high that drops out into the bordering civilized lands. The first settlement is about 20 miles away, along wetlands with game in abundance, fed by a mostly underground river coming out of the Tolkisson Mountain Range.

The Black Hillz lands closes to the Orrish (often called the “Tallowed Uplands”) themselves are barren and inhospitable. Countless thousands have died here over millennium. The Curtain of Night has shadowed the area too often, and nothing grows any more. There is no cover, and massive forces have trampled anything that might have once lived here. The ridge/valley has been left strewn with boulders rolled onto it for cover by both sides.

Black Hillz Materials

Chronicle of the Black Hillz

Information Sources: Mundane Reference | Associated Phenomenology Only | Specific Lore

Knowledge is broken down by ease of discovery/accessibility. If nothing is indicated, assume it is Pervasive.

Pervasive Knowledge / Very Easy Difficulty

This place is famous all across the realms for centuries of unending vigilance and militarism in fighting the Orrish forces of Tallow’s Deep.

Common Knowledge / Easy Difficulty

Dunstrand Rising Living World

Heartlands Spark > Set in Grand Duchy of Dunstrand of the [Fantasy] Steel Realms, as a Living World storyline.

CY 91689 A massive battle took place here, drawing in forces from as far away as the Barony of Matchalk. The tower of U’dethe was set ablaze with a sickly bruised flame, corrupting the forms of the defenders. The Orrish spilled out of the Black Hillz and fought the forces of the High King’s army from the garrison at Climante Keep to a standstill. The Curtain of Night swept forward, along a several kilometer front, pouring black waters down and flooding swathes of the Tallowed Uplands in the Black Hillz and driving the forces of light back – a new foothold was achieved! It has isolated the tower of U’runde, now under constant siege and supplied through the mystical arts of the druids of the Wyld and Lightbringer clergy.

Rare Knowledge / Very Hard Difficulty

Warning
Obscure/Hidden Knowledge is not generally available in known references; It is not necessarily Forbidden.
DO NOT READ BEYOND THIS POINT unless a character has the capability to gain such knowledge [through association, organization, or relation] if they do not possess it themselves or the reader intends to participate in scenarios using this material as a PLAYER! GM Narration will typically provide relevant information by check or story.

Realm's Aptitude Powers: Divine, Occult, and Psychic