Role Playing Games/Hyborian Nights/Locations/Claws of Imystrahl

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Claws of Imystrahl[edit | edit source]

The Claws of Imystrahl have the continent’s mildest climate, and coastal routes tend to have winds and weather kind to sailors. But “the continent’s mildest climate” is relative; it just means that the humidity in the jungles is slightly less oppressive, and climbers on the high glaciers can survive for ten minutes in the elements, not just five.

The Claws are Thule’s breadbasket, exporting grains over the Starcrown Mountains and to the Golden Sea, where it reaches the rest of Thule. The city-states of the Claws also export finished goods, and like everywhere in Thule, the coastal regions export fish to inland communities.

War has touched the Claws of Imystrahl throughout its known history, even if armies’ sandals haven’t trod the region much lately. The elves of Imystrahl were aggressive and ambitious 5,000 years ago, warring against the serpentmen and expelling the rakshasas from the continent entirely. More recently, the Atlanteans used the Claws of Imystrahl as their beachhead when they invaded Thule, eventually moving eastward to seize Quodeth and then Ikath across the Golden Sea. Time and misfortune caused the Atlanteans to give back most of those gains even before Atlantis itself sunk, but many in the Claws of Imystrahl long for a resurgence of Atlantean culture and ambition—and not coincidentally a full-fledged “New Atlantis” to govern it all.

Places of Interest[edit | edit source]

Nith[edit | edit source]

Nith and the surrounding communities (from Seyrik in the west to Putrann in the east) are a nascent city-state of Atlanteans trying to rebuild their home continent’s culture, creating a new Atlantis on Thule. Ruled by Vethni Ural, an Atlantean noble who can trace her lineage to Atlantis’s monarchs, Nith sees itself as the shining reflection of Atlantis, even as the rest of the region regards that as delusions of grandeur. Vethni is a competent “queen of Atlantis,” earning the grudging respect of rivals across the Claws of Imystrahl. New ships of Atlantean design are flying Nith’s seahorse-emblazoned flag as they ply the waters of Devilsun Bay, and Nith’s small but well equipped army is keeping the roads and rivers safer than usual.

Beyond the Claws of Imystrahl, Nith is best known for its shipwrights. The port of Wenkrail to the southeast is largely a glorified naval yard. The squat, sturdy war galleys that form the remnant of the Atlantean navies sail from here, though many are showing their age and aren’t seaworthy enough to leave Wenkrail’s docks. Thule’s finest naval architects work here, learning all they can from the battered hulks of Atlantis’s finest ships.

Devilsun Bay: This is Thule’s largest network of fjords, easily navigable and more protected from bad weather than the rest of the continent’s coastal waters. The bay’s navigable waters are under Nithian control, but they can’t be everywhere at once, and opportunistic pirates sail from dozens of hidden harbors along the coast.

Peretahn Tower: This cliffside fortress is home to Sir Helleruk, a self-styled noble with a small fleet of war-galleys. Helleruk uses Peretahn Tower and his fleet to make life miserable for merchants and travelers entering Devilsun Bay, demanding tolls and tribute by sea and by land (along the Kiridia-Arbrell road). Travelers and Katagian merchants loathe Helleruk, but Peretahn Tower is difficult to assault by land or sea.

Ruby Orchid Isle: The largest island within Devilsun Bay, Ruby Orchid Isle is home to the Grand Banyan of Ukru-Prah, an ancient treant revered by druids for its oracular wisdom.

Windlash Reach[edit | edit source]

Imystrahl’s influence to the east extends only as far as the town of Twinharbor, a human town living in perpetual fear that the elves will use “dark magic” on them. The rest of the coast consists of deep harbors that are difficult to reach by land, with thick jungle extending almost to the water’s edge.

Ethebrae: This seaside town controls nearby Fort Jalri and towns along the road as far as Kiridia to the northeast and Shenemi to the west. Sahuagin raids along the coast are a perpetual problem, and Ethebrae’s city fathers have heard rumors of an underwater “city of sharks” in the deep waters to the south.

Doomspire: The creation of Daor Mu, a sorcerer from Ren Shaar, the Doomspire is a spiked tower of black basalt rising out of the green jungle. It's rumored Daor Mu provides hospitality and advice for anyone who can brave the dangerous climb to her fortress. Beware her son, rumored to be a being of fiendish heritage and barely controlled magical power.