In a region ringed by mountains lies Halruaa, a nation of reclusive wizards. This rich realm is famous for its gold mines, its fiery Haerlu wine, and most of all, its magic. Halruaans wizards, like their mighty Netherese ancestors, crave powerful magic and pursue their craft with fanatical devotion, and even Halruaans who do not practice the Art respect its inescapable power and influence.
Geographic Overview
Halruaa is almost completely encircled by the Walls of Halruaa, a series of mountain ranges that form the eastern, northern, and western borders of the country. The coastline of the Great Sea forms its southern boundary. Halruaa stretches approximately 500 miles from east to west, and more than 350 miles from the coast to the northern foothills. The vast majority of the country consists of flat, windswept plains, broken only by broad, sluggish rivers and the occasional unusual feature.
For the most part, Halruaa is a warm, humid land, with temperatures ranging from more than 100 degrees in the summer to between 80 and 90 degrees in the winter. The mountains trap the moisture that rolls in off the sea, producing sudden and frequent thunderstorms. The higher foothills and valleys of the Walls of Halruaa are cooler and more comfortable than the lowlands in the middle, and the mountains are even colder, with permanent snowcaps on the highest peaks. Winter often brings snow to the temples on the mountains lopes as well, though never to the inland plains. The winds blowing off the mountains make life inland more bearable ,though the weather patterns produced when they meet over Lake Halruaa make the lake a tricky place to sail.
Halarahh (Small City)
The seat of Zalathorm’s power, Halarahh has a population just slightly above 8,000, making it the largest city in Halruaa. This wide, sprawling town is situated on the northern banks of Lake Halruaa, at the mouth of the river Halar. The city boasts lots of expansive public places for strolling, oratory, and celebrations.
Fully three thousand of the capital city’s inhabitants, including seventeen members of the Council of Elders, are practicing wizards, giving Halarahh the largest concentration of magical prowess anywhere outside Thay. Hundreds of wizard’s towers— lofty edifices built of colorful coral, stone, crystal, and magical force—dominate the skyline, jutting upward from an otherwise low-slung city profile. In past decades, each wizard tried to outdo his rivals by building the highest tower with the grandest and most breathtaking view of the countryside around the city. Eventually, however, the risks to both towers and skyships forced Zalathorm to actively discourage this “tower war,” and the mad building spree halted. In hopes of currying Zalathorm’s favor, some wizards have actually reduced the height of their towers, making the skies that much safer for skyships.
Because of its high concentration of wizards and the fact that the wizard-king and his council conduct business here, Halarahh is a difficult place for those not gifted in the Art to live. In all walks of life, favorable treatment and promotions come to those who have the spark but elude those who lack magical aptitude. The obvious exceptions to this rule are the Jordaini. These magi- cally immune counselors vie for positions and prestige alongside their wizardly patrons in the never-ending game of politics that is Zalathorm’s court. Though they cannot partake of the vast wealth—both fiscal and magical—that is available to so many others in the city, their stature in the eyes of everyone from the wizard-king down to the lowliest street urchin is affluence enough for them.
Arbor Square
Near the Netyarch’s Palace in the heart of the city lies Arbor Square, an expanse of parks, rivers, pavilions, and gazebos designed for strolling, chatting, or orating. A wide variety of temperate to tropical trees, many of which are flowering or fruit-bearing, fills the square. Vine-covered trellises create spaces for private conversations, and bridges span manmade canal-rivers, giving Arbor Square the feel of a vast, perfectly manicured garden. Along the periphery, vendors sell wares ranging from edible treats and beverages to magic trinkets such as cooling caps (hats with minor chilling spells cast upon them) and dazzle stones (pretty colored rocks enspelled with cantrips to make them blink or spark.)
The citizens of Halarahh come to Arbor Square regularly to converse, debate, or listen to passionate orations. Anyone is free to step onto a platform and begin pontificating on whatever subject most concerns him, but a few well-known speakers always draw the largest crowds. Some of the liveliest debates that have led to policy changes for the nation began as passionate speeches in Arbor Square.
Dockside Square
As with other Halruaan cities, much of Halarahh has grown up along the shoreline. Its docks, however, are not the tight, noisy cause ways abutted by closely packed warehouses that are standard for Faerûn’s port cities. Instead, its broad docks quickly give way to an open park known as Dockside Square. This open plaza is paved in colored stone, and large trees provide good quantities of shade for strolling and chatting. Interspersed among the trees are numerous pavilions with brightly colored awnings.
Dockside Square is the customary site for just about every festival and fair that takes place in the city. In the spring, when the Queen’s Regatta is held over Lake Halruaa, crowds gather in Dockside Square to witness the spectacle and hopefully gain a bit of the scatted fortune dust that floats down during the traditional light shows. In the summer, the square hosts numerous monster fairs in which exhibitors offer their latest catches from all over Faerûn. Wizards interested in procuring fashionable pets, prepar- ing new culinary delights, or simply restocking consumed spell components flock to these events to examine the wares. As one Durpari merchant said upon visiting Halarahh during a monster fair, “If you can eat it, cage it, put it on a leash, or chop it up for parts, like as not it’ll be there.”
The Ice House
In a low-slung building near the docks, numerous journeymen wizards are hard at work each day, using their magic to generate huge quantities of ice. Once created, the ice is promptly segmented into blocks, wrapped in insulating cloth, and delivered all over the city to those who can afford the luxury and to those who can’t operate their businesses without it.
Because the man power needed to create so much frozen water is extraordinary ,even by wizard standards ,the possibility of securing a steady source of ice by creating a portal to the Ice Wastes in the Abyss has recently been under discussion. The cost savings in magic would be immense and immediately felt, but the potential dangers of such an option have thus far kept the proposal bottled up in committee among the elders of the council.
The Netyarch’s Palace
Even in Halarahh, where wizards who mix magic with architecture vie with one another to create the grandest homes, the Netyarch’s Palace is more dazzling than any other edifice.The sprawling structure is a masterpiece of architecture that features soaring spires connected by cause ways seemingly suspended in thin air. Large facings and supports made of transparent material—or sometimes magical force—give the whole building an open, airy feel.
Inside, the heavy-handed use of magic borders on the frivolous. Every room is decorated with a liberal sprinkling of magical enhancements. A night sky, an ocean-caressed beach at dusk, and an otherworldly scene of glowing flora from the distant Underdark are among the many lighted displays designed to resemble majestic outdoor scenes. Various chambers have been built to showcase the more interesting properties of sound, and the hallways are filled with magic constructs designed to frighten, delight, and awe the viewer. Life-sized mechanical dragons, complete with misty vapors issuing from their mouths, crouch in niches along the wide corridors, and specially created display cases filled with living, breathing, miniaturized versions of real creatures form dividing walls between rooms. Deep within the heart of the palace, a few special rooms illuminated with artificial sunlight feature thick rain forests populated by colored birds, snakes, and tree frogs.
But not all the magic in the wizard-king’s grand home is for show. The entire place is warded with untold varieties of protective magic designed to prevent entry by thieves and assassins, and to keep treasures safe. Several wings of the palace are strictly forbidden to visitors because they are replete with deadly symbols, animated guardians, and binding magic intended to destroy trespassers rather than just thwarting them.
The Promenade
One of the most fashionable and enjoyable pastimes for the citizens of Halarahh is to see and be seen strolling the Promenade, especially at dusk. The Promenade is a wide walkway that runs along the tops of the city walls, which for the most part are ceremonial rather than functional, anyway. The path can be reached via several sets of wide marble stairs, making it readily accessible to the citizens. Every evening, hundreds of the city’s well-to-do venture forth dressed in their best finery (which often bears magical enhancements) and perhaps walking their favorite Halruaan behir or other pet. These folk have made a game of seeing whether they can outdo one another, but simply being part of the crowd is the most important consideration.
